Sweet Summer Escape
by lingering words
Summary: S.L.Y.-Lia, Sam and Ysabel,are about to spend their whole summer vacation in Illinois with Lia's cool Grandma Lily. At last! A chance to have their sweet escape. Only, they don't know what's ahead of them there. New friends? New admirers? Let's see then.
1. Part One S

1 Page ecjr

_LIA VAN DER WOODS_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

_BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRIIIIINNNGGG!_

The school bell went; the same time our classroom door busted open and everybody in the room stood up just before Mr. Richards, our History teacher, announced that there will be a test tomorrow about the Early Americans.

"Okay then, we'll have it on Friday." Mr. Richards said, forced to change the date due to the awes of the class.

I stepped out from our room and as expected, Sam jumped beside me. She came from the room across us where the Health Class was held.

"At last! This day's over!" I exhaled.

"Fern Hinkins got weirder today." Sam said, as we walked through the halls. Fern Hinkins is Sam's seatmate during their Health Class and she apparently creeps her out. Let's just describe her as the gothic type, they say. The girl who frequently wears heavy black mascara and dark cover ups, dark lipsticks, and has every inch of her body pierced.

"Why? What did she do now?" I chuckled.

"She didn't actually do anything. I mean she just talked."

"And you say that's weird?"

"Well, you would say the same if you heard our whole convo awhile ago. It went something like this…

_ME: Hey, Fern! Do you have an extra pen?_

_FERN: Why? So you could stab it in your heart and die?_

_ME: Uh…no. That's not actually what I had in mind. I was just thinking that maybe your pen could help me finish our seatwork, get a perfect score and make my parents happy._

_FERN: There's nothing happy about life._

_ME: Nice joke, Fern. Uh… So, do you have one?_

_FERN: No. But I have a blade._

_ME: Ha…ha. Never mind._

And then I turned around." Sam continued, "Then, Mrs. Gold told a funny joke that made the whole class laugh including me. But when I glanced at Fern, there wasn't a single hint of smile on her face. It was so straight, so serious, so…creepy. So I asked her if she found it funny. Her gaze still focused forward when she answered me, 'I did.' Then I asked again, 'Then why aren't you laughing?' That's the time she stared at me directly in the eyes and said, 'I am laughing.' I almost fell from my chair, you know."

"The hairs on my neck rose." I said; it did so. That was creepy.

"Ya think?" Sam responded, "It's like all the misery in the world got dumped on her that when you look at her, you'd never guess if she's laughing or in sober."

"Touché," I said with a laugh. "Look! There's Ysabel." I said, pointing at my other best friend leaning by the lockers wearing a green chiffon dress and her honey blonde hair in a turquoise clip, reading another book.

"Sam, Lia!" Ysabel said when she saw us and closed her new classic book, Jane Austen's Emma.

"Man, I can't believe summer vacation's just one week away!"

"Yeah, me too." I answered, and then, I remembered something.

"So, what is it you guys?" I continued.

"What is what?" They both said.

"What did your parents say?" I asked referring to the summer vacation spent with me on my Grandma Lily's place in Illinois.

"Ohh. The vacation." They said in unison again.

"I'm in! But mom said I have to write to her every day. Or send her postcards and pictures. Bla bla bla." Ysabel answered.

"That's beyond fabulous, Ys. How about you Sam?" I asked.

"Well, I'm in too," She said. I was about to jump so high because of excitement, until she continued with, "according to my Pops."

"Aww, Sam! How about your mom?" I asked, disappointed.

"Come on, Lia. She won't let me do anything not related to school." Sam said.

"Ohh, she will. We will ask for her permission, together. She can't deny on that, right Ys?" I said, determined.

"Uhh.. Sure. I guess." Ysabel answered with a shrug.

"No way, the two of you? You'd face Godzilla? For me? That's so sweet." Sam reacted.

Really, calling your own mother Godzilla? That's too much. But for Sam's case? I think we'd make an exception. Sam's mom is apparently a workaholic parent. Sam even says that every time she comes home, she looks so haggard and stressed. That is why she earned the title of Godzilla. She comes home very late during weekdays except for Wednesdays, because she stays at home, like now. Sam doesn't see her that much and so that means she isn't that close to neither her daughter nor me nor Ysabel. Maybe that's why Sam acts too boyish –I mean always wearing her natural wavy black hair up in a ponytail, with or without a cap. I swear, once she wears it down, the whole world will bow down to her for her good looks. But I'm not saying Sam's not beautiful if her hair is worn up, she looks totally pretty actually, especially when you see her round emerald eyes and a hint of olive skin. I just wish she'll try something new for awhile. Also, she always wears clothes that make her look like a boy. I bet she never worn heels her entire life. Plus, she knows how to fix a car's engine and she's very, very good in sports.—because she spends most of her time with her dad, whom she calls Pops. But in reality, Sam's truly, absolutely and positively straight—I mean she's still afraid of cockroaches.

As for Ysabel, she's the smart and silent type of SLY—our group name, cool right? It means crafty and clever, which perfectly fits our whole personality.—you can see her alone with a book or with Sam and I. I was right that her mom would easily let her come with us because her mom actually wants her to go out and socialize or something. Ysabel only becomes voluble when she's with me and Sam. When it comes to others, she becomes shy. She's like a doll, very pretty but delicate. Unlike Sam, Ysabel has a semi-straight blonde hair which deeply compliments her baby blue eyes.

"Of course. Now, let's go." I said.

_**CHAPTER 2**_

"Mom! Pops! I'm home! Lia and Ysabel are with me." Sam shouted.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Parker." Both Ysabel and I said when we saw Sam's dad in the living room watching a football game, his bald spot shining evidently

"Hello, ladies." Mr. Parker greeted us with a sweet smile that showed a hint of his wrinkles on his forhead, then turned back to watch the game.

"Woah! Pops! Is that the Denver Broncos?" Sam shouted, about to leap behind the couch to sit beside her father, but I grabbed her arm and whispered,

"We're here to ask for your mom's permission. Not to watch a silly football game."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Sam replied. "Pops, where's mom?"

"I think she's in the kitchen, cooking dinner."

"Thanks." Then she kissed her father on the cheek and led us to the kitchen.

"Hey, ma." Sam greeted her mom as she gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Hello, darling." Mrs. Parker said. She looks lovely today with her pixie ebony hair matched with her hazel eyes.

"Lia and Ysabel are with me." She said.

"Ah, I can see that. Hello to you two as well. What brings you here?" Mrs. Parker said, putting some viand on the plate and turned back to us.

"Hi Mrs. Parker." Both Ysabel and I said.

"We just want to talk to you about our summer vacation." I finally said, after a short exhale.

"Oh. Samantha already told me about that. That's so sweet of you to invite my daughter, Lia. But I'm afraid I can't possibly allow it." Mrs. Parker said.

"Told you so." Sam whispered beside me.

"But Mrs. Parker, my Grandmother will be there for us. She's very good in taking care of children."

"That's wonderful, darling. But I'm afraid I really can't. Illinois is too far from Colorado, Lia."

"Yes it is, but I'm sure Sam can handle herself. You've raised a very strong and independent individual, you know Mrs. Parker?" I said, feeling some blushing going on beside me.

"I know, sweetie. But…"

"Mom, I'm 16. Just like what Lia said, I can handle myself," Sam suddenly spoke beside me.

"Yeah, and we'll send her back immediately if she does something utterly unacceptable." Ysabel too, spoke beside me. Her words made me laugh.

"But Illinois is really far away," Sam's mom said, worried.

"We can see that, but we'll travel by plane. We'll get there in a zip. I assure you." I said, seeing a great chance for an approval.

"Good heavens, what can I do now, Samantha, when you've sent your best friends all the way down here just for my permission." Mrs. Parker exhaled, putting her hand on her forehead.

"Wait, mom. Is that a yes?" Sam asked with excitement.

"As long as you'll give me the exact address of the place where you're staying, and send me pictures and write to me—"

"MOM! You're the best." Sam shrieked. We did too, of course. And we hugged Mrs. Parker like we're the little kids and she's the Mascot in a birthday party.

"And, and, and. Your dad and I will be the one to bring you to the airport." Mrs. Parker added.

"Of course, mom!" Sam answered.

"Now, eat up." Sam's mom said when she had the chance to breathe.

"Us too?" I asked.

"What do you mean us too? Of course. You wouldn't miss my excellent cooking would you?"

"Got that right." I answered then turned to face Sam.

"Your mom doesn't seem that Godzilla-ish after all." I whispered to her.

"Yeah, I'm dazed too. Trust me." She answered.

"She just loves you so much that's why she acts all crazy." I continued.

"I know." She answered with a slight smile.

_**CHAPTER 3**_

_ONE WEEK LATER…_

Our departure time is scheduled at 5:00 pm and the flight time duration is 1 hour and 38 minutes, so we would arrive there at about 6:38 pm, but since, it's Illinois, and the time difference between it and Colorado is an hour, we would land at about 7:38 pm.

"Just make sure you'd call me or your father quickly once you've arrived there, okay honey?" Mom reminded me from the front seat.

"Absolutely, mom." I answered, looking for my cell phone in my bag.

"Your grandmother said that she sent a driver for you and your friends and that he will be in the airport holding a 'Lia Van der Woods' sign so that you'll know who to find." Dad added behind the wheels.

"Sure, dad." I answered. There, I found my phone.

I pushed the three-way button and dialed both Ysabel and Sam's phone number.

"Lia!" They both shrieked.

"Hey, you guys. Are you already on the way?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm so excited! Mom's driving." Ysabel shrieked.

"Me too! But pops is the one behind the wheels." Sam said.

"Well, just checkin' on you two. See you two later, okay? Tell your parents to drive safely. Well, bye. Love ya!" I said.

"Bye, Love you too." They both said and turned off the phone.

We arrived at the airport at about 4:30 pm and I'm already starting to miss my parents even though they're still with me. I mean, come on. It's my first time to spend my whole summer vacation without them and I was like 10 when we last visited Grandma Lily. We waited by the airport's café stand just beside the real waiting area. My mom was still reminding me about the Van der Woods' Safety Measures—though I've already memorized them all—when I saw Ysabel's blonde hair sway by the glass doors.

"Ys! Right here!" I shouted, so that she could see me.

"Lia!" Ysabel ran towards me with her arms extended, about to give a hug.

"BOO!" Sam said behind me.

"And where did you come from?" I asked. Sam responded with a laugh.

"Man, I feel edgy and excited at the same time! I think I'm gonna puke." Sam said, putting down her backpack.

After having some chit-chats with my two best friends, the airport's large monitor called for the flight of Denver, Colorado to Springfield, Illinois.

"Well, that's us." I said, standing up and getting my large purse. I looked for my parents to give a kiss goodbye.

"Remember to call us every day, okay darling?" my mom said, putting some of my hair that fell onto my face back behind my ears.

"And Lia, don't forget the driver your grandmother sent you, okay?" My dad followed mom's reminders with his, while carrying some of my luggage. We stopped by the luggage counter and put all of my belongings there.

"Of course, mom. Of course, dad. I already miss you, you know." I answered, after putting all of my stuff.

"Ticket please. Guardians, who are not supposed to be on the flight, please stay on this side to avoid crowding." The ticket woman said, looking tired and lousy as ever. I gave the ticket to her and smiled. She smiled back, which stunned me a little because no offense, it was the most hideous smile I've ever seen. Both of my parents went to where the ticket woman was pointing. They stood there, behind the waist- high metal railings as we talked.

"Mom, dad. This is it. Besides, I'll be gone just for the summer. You'll be immune from my naughtiness for awhile. Aren't you happy?"

When I saw my mom getting all teary eyed, I continued with, "Anyway, I'll call you every day like I've promised, okay? Don't worry too much."

"Aww, honey. I can't believe you're already saying things like that. When it's only like yesterday that you were running around with your diapers on." Mom said, letting out a soft sob, which made my eyes watery. I looked at my dad, who's looking at the dirty blue sky, outside the glass windows.

"Just be careful there, okay kiddo?" He said, still looking outside. And that was when I dropped my shoulder bag, hugged both of my parents—ignoring my slight bending because of the railings blocking my lower limb—and let out a big sob followed by a soft cry.

I had a chance to take a look at what was happening with my two best friends and their folks when I finished giving my goodbyes to my own. Ysabel, I've noticed, was also bending over, giving Mrs. Stryder, her mom, a kiss goodbye and went to me. While Sam, was giving her dad a punch on the arm and her mom, a quick hug. Then, she quickly picked up her bags and headed towards us. But like what I've expected, she turned, ran back and gave her parents her last embrace.

Sam can't be that tough all the time; she can't act too boyish repeatedly. Besides she's straight after all. And I was certain that this time was one of her girl moments.

Her dad kissed her on the forehead and her mom gave a very, very tight squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. Then, she turned back towards us. We gave our parents our last wave and started to walk toward the entrance tunnel of the plane.

"So, does this mean, I'm the only one who cried?" I asked them.

"It seems so." Ysabel answered. Sam laughed and I punched her in the arm.

"Ow." She said.

We were already at the front of the entrance door of the plane.

"You guys, this is it, are you two ready?" I asked them both.

"I think so." Ysabel answered.

"I think now's the time to puke." Sam followed.

"Samantha." Ysabel and I said to her, sounding serious.

"What? I told you not to call me that." She said.

"Good evening, ladies. Please get on the plane now, and have a safe and fun trip." The blonde stewardess standing at the front door said, telling us to enter.

"Let's go, SLY." The three of us said, after a big sigh.

_**CHAPTER 4**_

We got the plane with three air line seats and I was the lucky one to sit beside the plane's window. Since Sam likes that spot too, I rubbed it in her faces that I got there first. So she just stuck a tongue out at me.

"It's mint, so you won't get dizzy." Ysabel said, handing over a mint chewing gum while the plane facilitator was explaining and demonstrating the use of the life vest and the oxygen mask.

"Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts and be ready for takeoff in five minutes." the stewardess that we met earlier said, on the microphone.

"Please fasten your seatbelt miss," One of the male plane facilitators said to Sam. When I looked up, I saw that the guy was very good-looking even though he's in his 20's. Ysabel, held on to my hand that was placed on my lap, and gave it a squeeze, which meant, she saw how handsome the guy was as well.

"But the tongue won't fit into the buckle." Sam answered the hot facilitator—Leo, whom I saw the name printed at the side of his blue uniform.—trying her best to attach the seatbelt.

"Here, miss."—Then, Leo bent over to attach the tongue to the buckle and he was super close to Sam which made Ysabel's hold grow tighter. "Is that okay now, miss? Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah, thanks." Sam replied, and then Leo smiled, the most dazzling smile I've ever seen, and turned away.

"Has anybody seen where I put the gum you gave, Ys?" Sam asked innocently, looking for the gum, while Ys and I was made speechless by the hot facilitator.

"Hello, you guys. 911 emergency here. My gum is lost. Show some sympathy, people." Sam said, waving a hand in front of our face.

"Sam, if that's how you flirt with guys like that, it sure is working." Ysabel said, still stunned.

"What do you mean flirting? What guy? I'm not flirting. Now, look for my gum the plane will take off soon."

"Lia, did you see the guy's smile?" Ysabel asked me.

"Yeah, it feels like I just saw an actual god." I answered.

"Oh, so you two are talking about the seatbelt guy. He's not that cute. He's just your usual tall guy with blonde hair, no striking look. And this girl"-she said, pointing at herself-"is not interested."

"Sam, when will you realize that men are special?" Ysabel asked.

"If in special you mean, mentally? I've already realized that a long long time ago." she answered then turned back on looking for her lost gum. "Gum people, guuum."

"Well, that's Sam." I sighed and helped her look for the gum.

"The plane's ready for takeoff. Please stay still on your designated seats and turn off all of your electronic gadgets." The stewardess said.

"Found it!" Sam shouted and the plane started to move.

_**CHAPTER 5**_

We were already hundreds of feet above the ground and the houses of Denver already look like small colorful dots.

"Do you like anything, ladies?" A stewardess with brunette hair asked our row.

"What do you have?" Ysabel asked.

"Airplane Chips and some beverages."

"I'd like to have a coke, please." Ysabel requested.

"Okay, miss. I'll come back with it. Thank you." Then the stewardess turned away. Like what she said, she came back with a coke and a tissue. She gave both of it to Ysabel.

"Ys, you should sleep. Look at Sam, she's already snoring." I joked, noticing Ysabel's dropping eyes. "We just took off, there's pretty much a long way to go."

"Well, I do feel exhausted." She answered, yawning. "But are you sure? You can sleep too you know."

"Yeah. I'll just sleep when I feel like sleeping. Don't worry about me. Besides, maybe I could still spot Leo somewhere." I joked. Ysabel laughed softly.

"Well, goodnight." Ysabel said.

"Nighty, night Ys. I'll wake you up as soon as we get there." I said.

"Thanks, Lia." Ysabel said, and she closed her eyes. I killed some of my time playing Collapse with my DS and apparently, beat my last high score. After playing, I took a glance outside through the glass window and saw that it was getting darker and darker. Next, I looked at my two best friends who are fast asleep. Sam, with a turtle-shaped green pillow and Ysabel, with a square shaped purple one. I also glanced around my co-passengers. I saw a young boy poking her father's cheeks because he wants him to buy some Airplane Chips. I saw a middle-aged man, with a mustache, secretly picking his nose and two senior couples, the woman, lying her head on the old man's shoulders. After that, I felt my eyes drop from the exhaustion, so carefully, I drifted to my sleep.

I can't believe I slept for an hour and thirty minutes. But I bet my sleep would last even longer if both of my best friends didn't wake me up.

"Lia, Lia. Wake up. Look!" Sam said, pointing to the small glass window beside me. I, who just woke up, didn't know of course what my friends were pointing at. Not until I scratched my eyes and followed the direction of Ysabel's finger, that I saw the most beautiful scenery in the world, the sunset. It was so beautiful, because the sky was a mixture of purple and orange, not the usual color of it. I also saw a flock of birds flying accordingly making the view more pleasing in the eyes.

"It's amazing." I said.

"I know right. Anyways, your sleep was even longer than mine!" Ysabel said.

"Wait, sunset, birds, what time is it?" I said, processing what's happening.

"Good evening passengers, we are now arriving at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport of Springfield, Illinois. Please close all your desks and turn off all your cellular phones and other electronic gadgets, right now. Thank you for your cooperation. May I repeat..." The stewardess said behind the microphones.

"Oh, my gosh. WE'RE HERE!" I shouted.

_**CHAPTER 6**_

"Dad told me Grandma sent for a driver to pick us up. Look for one over there. He's holding a Lia Van der Woods sign." I said to Sam and Ysabel when we were already in the arrival section of the airport.

"Lia, Lia, Lia. Where's Lia? I can't find any Lia Van der Woods' sign anywhere!" Sam said.

"There! Right there! Lia Van der Woods, see?" Ysabel said, pointing to a familiar guy, lousily holding a cardboard piece of cut out that was labeled with my name.

"Holy crap! Hide!" I said. Then I tugged both of their sleeves with their bags behind the nearest large décor.

"What was that all about?" Ysabel asked, shocked.

"I think you broke my arm." Sam said, stretching it.

"Sorry, you guys. But I just can't believe that of all the people Grandma could send to fetch us up, she chose him! Ugh."

"Who is he anyway?" Sam asked.

"That's Seth Serrano. The guy I was telling you about. You know the guy I hate? Ugh. I can't believe this. I was so excited to spend the vacation with you two, and of course granny, that I totally forgot all about him!" I exploded. Ysabel, slightly looked at Seth's direction.

"Phew, that sure is a 'Seth'. But, I'm not sure if that Seth is the same as your Seth, Lia. I mean, look at that face. It's unbelievably gorgeous! Too far from how you had described him." Ysabel said.

"I know, he's a little too different from my description, but that is Seth. Short layered shaggy hair in golden blonde, striking blue eyes. I'm positively sure. That is Seth Serrano."

"You only gave slight information about the Seth guy because you said you don't want to talk about him anymore. What's with him anyway? Why do you suddenly hate him?"

"Let's save that story for later. For now, help me decide what to do."

"I know what we'll do! Ysabel and I will cover up for you. Hide behind our backs." Sam said.

"No, she can't. It'll be too obvious that she doesn't want to see him if we do that." Ysabel suggested.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Sam asked.

"Just be yourself and act normal." Ysabel said.

So, what we did was to walk towards the most irritating guy I've ever met.

"No, offense Lia. But you look like a girl version of The Toy Soldier. Lia, we're headed to the guy who will bring us to your grandma, not towards a deadly war." Sam said.

"Lia, relax." But I can't, until both of them patted my shoulder and my walk was no longer stiff.

We reached Seth already, who kept on looking at his watch before we got to him. I'll make a confession, as we draw closer and closer to him, he becomes cuter and cuter wearing an unbuttoned black polo, inside a plain white shirt then for the bottom a worn- out jeans and black Converse—something a fashion police will not arrest. But that doesn't mean that I like him or something. I'm just stating a fact, is all.

"Lia? Is.. is that you?" Seth said the moment he saw us, the same time, he straightened up and his eyes grew wider, looking at me.

_**CHAPTER 7**_

Then, the moment changed when he went:

"You're late. Do you know how long I was waiting here?" he said. There, he's starting to get into my nerves already.

"No, apparently not."

"Great." Seth said, sarcastically. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your peers?

"Ysabel and Sam, Him."-I said after putting my bags down, gesturing to them by their names, except for Seth, whom I called him.-"You, Sam and Ysabel. Okay, done."

Seth looked at me like I'm crazy then she looked at Ys and Sam. "Lovely ladies, Seth Serrano. At your service." Then, he bowed and carefully got Ysabel's hand and kissed the back of it, followed by Sam's. Then he looked at me, and smiled the wicked smile I've ever seen. At the sight of this, I just rolled my eyes and wished that Sam would just punch him instead of letting him kiss her hand. But no, actually, what really happened was that both of my best friends blushed.

Seth's always like that, just because he knows he has the looks and the charm and almost all of the girls are after him, he would take advantage of it and flatter them, which grosses and at the same time bugs me. The only girl whom he loathes and obviously loathes him back, would be me.

"Why are you of all people would be the one to pick us up?" I said, before he started to poison the minds of my two best friends.

"Your grandmother." he answered.

"What? She thought you were a horse, so she sent you here? Boy, I'm glad granny's eyes are still fine."

Seth sighed and said after running a hand through his hair, "Summer job. I work for Mrs. Van der Woods. Got it?"

"So, you drive? That's your job?"

"I'm seventeen. What do you expect me to do? Crawl?" Seth answered me like a dummy.

"I'd be happy to see that." I smiled.

Seth ignored my comment and continued with, "Mrs. Van der Woods gives me other easy jobs besides driving and my salary is totally off the hook. And I took this one, because of the Cadillac."

"So, you accepted this job, not to have the honor of fetching 3 beautiful young girls, but to drive a black pick up truck?"

"Hey. It's not just a pickup truck. It's a Cadillac Escalade!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Did you just say we'll be going to your Grandmother's house with a Cadillac?" Seth nodded, and so Sam continued with,"Can I drive? Can I drive? Please. Please, please, please."

"Sorry Sam. But that's my job. To bring all of you back to Lia's grandmother safe and sound. Maybe you could try it out sometime. Just not today." Seth answered him.

"Aww, pickles." Sam reacted. Even though our driving test is not yet issued until this September, Sam already knows how.

"Okay, ladies. Let's go." Seth said, picking up our luggage. I was surprised he took mine.

"Wow. Now, I'm not sure if that's Seth. The guy's carrying my bag!" I whispered to Sam and Ysabel.

"You know Lia, Seth is not that bad." Ysabel said.

"To you two, you mean. To me, no hopes up."

_PART ONE: SAMANTHA PARKER_

_**CHAPTER 8**_

I still felt bad about not having the chance to drive the truck, but all of that disappeared as soon as I saw it.

"Lia, you're moneyed." I said to her, pointing to the shiny large black truck in front of me.

"Sam, I'm not rich. My grandparents are. Back in Denver, my life's simple." Lia answered me.

"But, that's the point. We're not in Denver! We're in your kingdom. This is so cool."

"Hey, I'll put all of your stuff at the back okay? You can just get in and get comfortable." Seth said.

"Sure. Thank you." Ysabel answered for the three of us.

After Seth had put our stuff at the back, he came down immediately and opened the door for us. All of us said our thanks to him except Lia, who's still obviously irritated. Lia just forced a smile at him.

"Lia, is he rich too?" I asked.

"Well, his family's got a business somewhere in Burbank City. So I guess we'll classify him on that stage. But I still don't know why he chose to work for my grandmother. I know there are a lot of summer job openings that would be of interest for him, so I don't get it."

"Maybe he likes your granny." I joked, which made them both laugh.

"Sam. Stop that." Lia said, laughing.

"Or maybe, it's you he likes!" Ysabel shouted.

"Now that's ridiculous." Lia said.

"Why? He's very good looking, don't you think so Sam?" Ysabel asked me.

"He's more handsome than the seatbelt guy. That's what's on my mind." I answered, then I saw Seth turning around the corner for the driver's seat. "Wait. Hush! He's coming." Then the driver's door opened and Seth got in.

"All set?" He asked.

"Yeah." We all answered before the Cadillac's engine roared and we're off.

Seth drives really fast but he's still cautious. I opened a bag of Cheerios to kill the time. I gave some for them. We passed by loads of trees, and some country houses. The city lights were a blur, so it just looked like some colorful swooshes from inside the car. Until I saw the sign, "Welcome to Irisdale Village." And from there, we just traveled for 10 minutes and we're already at Grandma Lily's place. I looked out the window and saw a house with steep black rooflines, an ornate chimney, a small porch and some dark interiors. The house was very exquisite, to be exact. It's like one of the houses shown in MTV Teen Cribs; only its Lia's grandma who actually lives here, who's obviously gone pass the teenage years a long, long time ago. But we're teens! And we're gonna stay here for the entire summer! Gaaah, I'm so excited.

"We're here." Seth said, as he stopped the engine and pulled the keys.

"Lia, your grandmother's house is very lovely." Ysabel said, when she saw it.

"Thanks. I think Grandma made some slight changes though, but she made it look even better than before." Lia answered.

Then we went out, the same time I heard Lia's grandmother cry, "You're here!" and came running down the porch.

"Grandma! Be careful, you might slip!" Lia shouted, running towards her to be her company.

"I don't care. I just want to hug my precious Lia."

"Aww, grandma." Lia said and hugged her. Lia's granny was petite, I've noticed. She has a short curly white hair, perfect for her round face, unlike her granddaughter who has a short layered, modern messy dark brown hair. Her eyes were golden brown, the same as Lia's. I bet she had a lot of suitors before Lia's grandpa came.

"Oh Darling, please introduce me to your friends." Lia's grandmother said.

"Of course. Grandma, this is Ysabel Stryder and Samantha Parker. But just refer to her as Sam."—Lia said, before I was about to react.—"Ysabel, Sam, this is Grandma."

"You can call me Grandma Lily, if you're more comfortable with it." Grandma Lily said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Grandma Lily." Both Ysabel and I said and hugged her.

"You're all so grown-up now, Lia darling. I can't believe time travels so fast. And you grew up beautifully. Your friends too, are very lovely."

"Thanks." Lia said, for the three of us.

"I see you've met Seth." She said, as soon as she saw Seth putting down our luggage.

"Yes. He's really, uhh, welcoming." Lia answered her.

"You know, Seth is really diligent. He comes ahead, as soon as I call him and I know you two are close friends back then, so I sent him. Hoping you would be happy and surprised." Grandma Lily said.

"Oh, believe me, Grandma Lily. Lia was outright surprised." I said, stopping a laugh.

"Ha-ha."—Lia laughed sarcastically, giving me a look that meant to stop it or I'll never see the sunrise again.—"So, grandma. The house looks very beautiful." She said, changing the topic.

"Oh, yes. Of course. Speaking of the house, why don't we come inside, I'll make you the most refined hot chocolate you've ever tasted and maybe some seafood for dinner?" Grandma Lily replied.

"Sure, grandma." Lia said. And we started walking.

"Wait a minute, aren't you going to help Seth?" Grandma Lily remembered when we were half way to the house.

"Oh, don't mind him. He's a guy. He can do it." Lia answered, smiling an evil smile.

"Are you sure? Kindly ask him." Grandma Lily asked, uncertain. She was about to turn back for Seth but Lia insisted then followed by,

"Seth, are you alright back there?" Then, before Seth could answer, Lia went, "Good!"

"Did he say something? I didn't hear." Grandma Lily said, concerned.

"He said, 'Yeah, I'm good.' Grandma. You didn't hear?"

"No. I guess I'm not getting any younger anymore."

"That's alright." Lia said, smiling another evil smile.

"You're so mean." Ysabel mouthed the words at Lia when she looked at us.

My comment was in gestures, putting my right and left pointer fingers on my head—the devil's horns. And then I draw an imaginary tail from my butt.

_**CHAPTER 9**_

The inside of the Van der Woods' House was even more unbelievable than that of the outside. All of the furniture was made up of either solid oak, cherry or pine woods. I guess the theme of the Van der Woods' house was country because almost all of the things found in here were made of wood or handcrafted. The house makes me comfy and warm.

"I think I'm gonna enjoy it here." I said to Lia.

"Me too." Ysabel said in astonishment.

While we were in the dining table with our promised hot chocolate and dinner, Grandma Lily was telling us the story behind the house.

"You see girls, before Lia's Grandpa Stewart passed away; he built this house with his brothers and in front of this is where he made his proposal."

"So, he really knew that you'll accept him? That's why he made this as an early engagement present? I asked.

"Yes, Samantha. That's how special our love is." Grandma Lily answered, I shuddered from hearing my complete name.

"Aww. That's so sweet." Ysabel reacted.

"Forgive me for asking this, but why was Lia's grampa the one who built this? I mean, the Van der Woods family got the money right? Why didn't he just pay someone to do it?" I asked, curiously.

"Well, he refused the help from his parents when it came to the building of the house. He said that if he paid someone to do it, it's useless. All that his parents could do was to provide for the materials needed like the furniture and the kind of woods needed. That's why the equipments are very high fashioned. His brothers, well, they were very supportive. They agreed to help him just to see their youngest brother engaged and happily married to his one and only love."

"Aww. That's even sweeter." Ysabel reacted again.

Then suddenly, the entrance door busted open and everyone in the room but Grandma Lily leaped.

"Seth!" Grandma Lily stood from her chair. "Oh, sweet heavens. Are you alright?"

"I'm...alright…Mrs. Van der Woods." Seth panted his reply, while putting all our bags down. Then he shot Lia a very evil look.

"I told you, grandma. He'll be fine." Lia said, suppressing a laugh.

"Here, have some water." Grandma Lily said, giving Seth a glass of water. Which Seth got quickly and drank all of it in just a second.

"Thank you." Seth said, returning the glass then looked at his watch. "Oh, Jeez. Will you look at that, it's almost 8:30. Better get going."

"You won't have some dinner first?" Grandma Lily asked, hoping.

"Oh, no need. But thanks for asking." Then he turned away, and muttered something Grandma Lily didn't here, but we three sure did. "Safety first. 'Cause maybe someone put poison on the meal you're gonna serve me." Then he eyed Lia, which made both me and Ysabel snicker.

"Are you sure? You can take the truck to go home, sweetie." Grandma Lily frowned.

"Is that okay?"

"Of course, dear. The truck's readily available, you can use it. And I know you've been longing to drive that car for weeks. It's fine."

"Sweet! You're the bomb, Mrs. Van der Woods!" Then, our eyes grew wide. Seth saw this, so he said, "I mean, thanks Mrs. Van der Woods."

"No. Thanks to you, my Lia's safe. And of course, Ysabel and Samantha too."

"Ha… uh… no problem." Seth replied, giving a heart-melting smile. "I'll go ahead and check if the tires are still round," She eyed Lia again. "Then I'll be heading home."

Grandma Lily gave him a confused look, but he just beamed at her, as if to say 'that was not for you, it's for your wicked granddaughter.' When he finally turned around and headed for the car, Lia grabbed my hand and whispered,

"I can't believe he said that. I didn't even know how to flat tires!"

I patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, I feel for you." Then I chuckled.

"Bye Seth, thanks for picking us up!" Ysabel shouted from the doors.

"I'm happy to pick you up anytime at any place!" Seth replied, when he was halfway through the stoned pathway.

"Bye, Seth! Sorry we didn't help you with the bags back there!" I shouted too.

"No problem, Sam!" He answered getting nearer and nearer to the Cadillac. When he got to the driver's door, he paused. And I knew then, that he was waiting for the last goodbye, so I nudged the black- haired girl beside me.

"What?" Lia whispered.

"Your goodbye! Say it!" I whispered back.

"No, I won't!" Lia answered. Then, while we were having a whisper fight, Grandma Lily interrupted.

"Lia, aren't you going to thank him?"

"Ugh."—Lia reacted. I gave her a big grin and she stuck a tongue out at me. Then shouted.—"Uhh.. Thanks. And uhh.. take care."

Even though it's dark, trust me. I saw the gleam of Seth's teeth when he smiled after hearing Lia's goodbye.

"Thanks, you too." He said his last reply and opened the Cadillac's door, got in, and then he was gone.

_**CHAPTER 10**_

"Now, now. All of you will take a good night sleep. It's getting late; the three of you must be tired." Grandma Lily said.

"But grandma. The dishes. We should help you."

"Of course, honey. But tonight's my treat. It's your first night here; your Grandma Lily wouldn't want you to be exhausted, would she? You three will be exempted for this night. Besides, my back's still strong you know. Now, now. You should all have some rest."

"Are you sure grandma?" Lia asked.

"Yes. Now, get to sleep. Come, I'll show you to your room. I think I've got an excellent idea on what room fits you three. Follow me."

We got our bags and quickly followed Lia's grandmother up the wooden staircase and into the narrow hallway. The second floor was more modernized than that of the first even though the floor is still made of wood. The walls are covered with light green wallpapers, a dozen of picture frames hang on them. Most of which were Mr. Van der Woods when he was still a young boy until he graduated from College. Some were from the wedding days of Mr. and Mrs. Van der Woods and Grandpa Stewart and Grandma Lily. Until we got to the end of the hallway, where I saw several pictures of Lia when she was still 10.

"My eyes! My eyes!" I joked, covering my face to add some expression.

"Oh, shut up Sam." Lia said, when she saw what I was joking about.

"Lia, don't mind her. You look very pretty." Ysabel said.

"Thanks, Ys."

"Hey, I was just kidding." I said, moving back to Lia, laughing and punching her arm softly.

"Yeah right." Lia said and gave a grin. Then I hurried back in front of her again and continued glancing at the different pictures.

"No. Way." I breathed when I saw my best friend's photo. Her dark brown hair—still long and wavy was tied in a half pony with a blue ribbon—swayed when she was kissed on the cheek by a familiar blonde boy.

"What? What? What?" Ysabel asked, moving beside me. "Woah." She said when she saw what I was looking at. "Th—that is Seth right?"

"Grandma! Why did you hang this photo?" Lia cried, and then she grabbed it.

"Why wouldn't I? You both look adorable in that photo." Her grandma said as she strolled to the hallway. "Now, put the frame back on the wall." And Lia did so.

"You will have some talking to do, young lady." I said to Lia after she hung the frame back.

"Here we are." Grandma said, as she opened the door to this huge room.

"Pinch me, I'm dreaming. I feel like a princess!" Ysabel said when we entered. I may feel the same way as she did, but princesses are too girly for me.

She said that because the room was so huge; neatly and beautifully decorated. It has white walls and curtains, there were 3 wardrobes and of course 3 beds to partner it.

The bed's comforters were different from each other. The one on the far right side has teal green and orange bedding with some hot pink and floral prints, which I am, sure, will go to Ysabel. In contrast, the left side bed has a groovy teal blue and lime green comforters, which I will get; while the bed in the middle has reversible purple and lime green comforters with polka dots, which would surely be the choice of Lia.

I guess the two of them thought the same things I did, because the moment Grandma Lily asked us to choose our own, all of us ran to the exact beds I thought.

"Grandma! This is amazing! How did you come up with all of these?" Lia said, bouncing up and down onto her bed.

"Actually, this room was the first thing that I've decided: a room for three. That's why the sheets are all newly bought and the room is very well decorated." Grandma Lily explained.

"Aww, grandma. That's so thoughtful of you; your designs are totally us. Right guys?" Lia winked at us.

"Thank you, honey. Now, now. Get on your pajamas and get to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow." She replied.

"Why? What are we gonna do?" I asked.

"Your summer job of course." Grandma Lily replied with a wink as she closed the door.

And when she did, I saw a piece of small pink envelope taped at the back of it.

"What's this?" I asked, standing up, got the paper and opened it. Lia and Ysabel were instantly beside me, looking over my shoulder so that they could see.

I read the short message, "Lia, Sam and Ysabel. We are glad to have designed your room. We hope you'll love it. God Bess and have a comfy stay here in Illinois! Love, ASID Crew."

"Oh, my God. An ASID designer did this?" Ysabel reacted, covering her mouth and turning to our room

"No wonder it's so beautiful." Lia seconded her.

"What's ASID?" I asked.

"American Society of Interior Designers. Only the best one here in Illinois!" Lia answered, which made me go, "Oh."

"Oh Lia, your grandma is the coolest person in the world."

_**CHAPTER 11**_

…_The sun was shining brightly down at me. I was still 6, sitting on the pink swing; I swayed it with my own little hands. I was wearing my favorite white Sunday dress. My black hair was worn in pigtails and some strands were brought to my face by the cold breeze. I was about to remove them but someone did it for me with a much bigger hand than mine. It's a woman's hand I've noticed. I looked up to see who it was, the same time I cried, "Momma!" and she smiled the prettiest smile I've ever seen… _

Then I suddenly realized something from my dream. Momma?

"Mom!" I shouted, suddenly sitting up from my long tiring sleep; my hair, still sticking out everywhere. "Phone, phone, phone. Where's my phone?" I continued, looking for my cellular phone because I forgot to call my parents last night. Man, I bet they're going ballistic right now.

"On the first drawer." Lia groaned and covering herself with the comforter because I was too loud.

"Sorry." I whispered, then carefully opening the first drawer—but in the end, I pulled it too hard that it almost fell to the ground because I was startled. Well, what do you expect me to do when Lia suddenly shouted "My parents! Ohh, crap!"—When I saw my iPhone, I grabbed it and Lia's Blackberry too and tossed it to her. And we both dialed numbers.

"Hello? Pops!" I said, after a few rings.

"Sam!" Pops exclaimed. I heard mom from behind saying, "Give it to me." Then pops, as commanded gave the phone to my mother.

"Samantha! You haven't called until now! We've been so worried!" Mom cried, concerned.

"Mom, I'm so so sorry. We were so exhausted last night and I won't argue with you, this young girl's guilty."

"Well, that's understandable. Baby, your father and I already miss you so so much!"

"I know, mom. Me too."

"How are Lia and Ysabel?"

"They're doing great. Ysabel is still sleeping. Lia forgot to call her folks too, so she's calling them right now." I said, and then I heard Pops from the background to ask for the address of the place.

"Honey, your father would like to know what's the address there and the phone number too."

"Yeah, wait. I'll ask Lia." I answered, covering the microphone part of my phone then turned to Lia. "Yo, Lia." I said.

"Yeah?" She answered, after excusing herself from the one she's speaking with.

"What's the address here? And the phone number?"

"Um.. #65—"

"Wait, a sec." I cut her off then said to my mom, "Mom, listen. Okay? Here's the address." Then faced my phone at Lia. Lia, in response raised an eyebrow but continued.

"#65, Golden Bridge St., Irisdale Village, Springfield Illinois." Then, after saying the address, I mouthed the words—phone number. So Lia said, "Mrs. Parker? Here's the phone number: 3784291." Then, I mouthed the words—thank you. Lia winked at me and turned back to the one she's talking to.

"What she said, mom. Heard it?" I asked when I got back to her.

"Yes, darling." Mom said. Then after a few more chit chats, we finally got the guts to say goodbye.

Lia and I woke Ysabel up and got ourselves ready to go down. I was the only one whose hair was worn up, we brushed our teeth and washed our face but we still went down in our pajamas and fluffy slippers. While we were strolling in the hallway, I once again saw Seth and Lia's photo and realized that I forgot to ask Lia about it last night. Man, I must be really exhausted. So, I did what I did next.

"Lia, what's with that photo? You haven't told me anything yet."

"Let's skip it, okay? I'll tell you when it's the right time." Lia replied which resulted for my pouting. Then she turned to Ysabel and said, "Say Ys, You still haven't called your mom. She might be really worried by now."

"I already did. Last night, when I was the last one to go in the bathroom I told you to call your parents but when the both of you didn't answer, I thought you were already asleep. So, when I came out, I checked the both of you, and my instincts were right. Sam was even running a river of saliva." Ysabel joked.

"Hey. I don't do mouth droppings." Sam reacted.

"I was kidding, silly. So, yeah. I didn't bother to wake you up 'cause you both seem so tired. And that's when I called my mom. End of story."

Lia and I were both like, "Ah." And we reached the last step of the stairs.

"Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!" As the person in front I almost screamed and tried to go up again. Until I saw that it was a puppy, seeing its white curly outer coat, and delectable miniature size, I was so adorable-lized. I know that's not even a word but if you really look at it, you'll feel like you're in puppy heaven! That's how cute it is.

"PUCCA!" Lia exclaimed behind me then raced down to grab her.

"You guys! Meet Pucca, Grandma's dog." Lia said, as she repeatedly cooed and patted Pucca's head.

"It's a dog?" I asked, shocked.

"No, Sam it's a pig." Ysabel sarcastically said, scoffing.

"Ysabel, you know what I mean. It's too small to be a.. a.. dog! I thought it's still a puppy."

"She's a Bichon Frise. And that's the thing about Bichons, even though they're old; they still look like a puppy, because they're tiny and so adorably looking." Lia answered me.

"How old is she?" Ysabel asked,

"I think she's 3 or 4 in dog years. We rescued him from the pound during my last visit." Lia answered.

"Pucca? Pucca? Where are you girl?" Grandma Lily asked from the kitchen.

"She's with us, granny." Lia said, when we entered the kitchen. The smell of bacon and eggs touched our noses.

"Oh, there you are." Grandma Lily said, the same time Lia released Pucca who ran to Lia's grandmother. "I feel bad not to be the first one to say good morning to you three." Grandma Lily continued as she cuddled Pucca in her arms. Then the three of us laughed. "Now, now, eat your breakfast before it cools down so that you can go change your clothes."

We sat down, the wooden chairs and ate our breakfast. Grandma Lily followed.

"Grandma Lily, what are we applying for?" I asked as I cut my eggs.

"Oh dear," She laughed. "You don't need to apply. You're already hired." She answered, which made my eyes grew wide.

"Where are we going to work, grandma?" Lia asked while getting some more bacon.

"In the Van der Woods' Bookstore. You're gonna be selling books there." She answered. "Here's how it works. The bookstore is merely divided into three major sections: the children's section, the teen's section and the adult section. Then, the adult and teen's section, has books that are classified into a more precise category whether it is a classic, a chic-lit a romance or any other more. The children's section is classified in a different way, whether it is a fairytale book, a coloring book an activity book and others."

As Grandma Lily explained, I was getting more and more excited that I didn't notice that my mouth was hanging open until Ysabel said it to me and I closed it.

"So, does that mean each of us is assigned to a certain section?" Lia asked.

"Yes. I thought of it last night and I think I made a very good decision."

Oh crap, I wish Grandma Lily assigned me to the teen's section. Please please please.

_**CHAPTER 12**_

"I'm the one who arranged this, because I know which of which is suited to your personality. So no trading or complaining, understand?" Grandma Lily said.

"Yes, Grandma." We all answered.

"Lia, as my granddaughter, I've noticed that you are very knowledgeable of your peers, that you can understand them and I know you can deal with them through books. So, I assigned you to your section, the teen's." Lia's grandmother said.

Which made Lia say, "Yeah!"

Darn it, now I'm left with the kids and the oldies. Crap. Neither of the two even fits my personality. I'm not that fond of kids because they always intend to go around and make noise or cry until my ears burn. While the adults are the opposite. They intend to be silent and sometimes do not even say a word until I go crazy! It would be much terrible if I'll encounter a really old one. I don't want to repeat the title of the book to him for the nth time if he asks for it, or might even shout it just so his old man's ear could hear! But maybe, I could handle that—with the exception of a really old one—adult's section. I would rather shout than be deaf.

"Ysabel, I've noticed that you are a silent type kind of girl. But I think beyond that silence, I can see a great lore that anyone could ever have. And I am certain that that knowledge would be a great help in selling books for an adult because you can relate with them."

And my head was like saying, "Nooooo!" over and over again. Ysabel replied with a nod followed by a smile and a thank you. Then drank some of her water.

"So that leaves the children's section to Sam."

The two of my best friends smirked but I ignored them. And said after a sigh, "Great. In two weeks, I'll not be hearing your voices or Pucca's bark anymore." And then I bit my bacon hard.

"Samantha, you don't like your job?" Grandma Lily asked me, worried.

"No! No! I absolutely love it, grandma. I just want to know, but I don't mean to offend you, why did you choose that section for me?" I asked.

"Aha. That is because I find you very jolly and sweet, Samantha. And I think that the kids in Irisdale will surely enjoy your service for them."

"Grandma, I think you missed out the part where I'm pretty much a short tempered girl." I said, with a forced laugh.

"Oh, I've already included that, dear. But according to Lia when I asked her to describe the two of you before you got here in Illinois, you're really not that much of a grouch. It just happens when the person is really getting in your nerves, which takes a while. So that really made me put you to the children's section so that you could practice your patience with the kids."

_Lia. _I thought.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, grandma." I said.

"I'm glad you understood, Samantha." Grandma Lily said, the same time we all finished our meals.

"Now, after helping me with the dishes, you could change your clothes."

"We'll do the dishes. You did it last night. You could rest for now." Lia said.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. We'll even feed Pucca. Where's the dog food by the way?"

"In the last drawer on the left."

"Great!" Lia said. Then when grandma was about to leave, she said something.

"Oh, yes. Before I take a short rest, I'd like to say that I have a special surprise for you three."

"Wow, another one?" I said which made everybody laugh again.

"What is it?" Lia asked.

"You'll see." Then Grandma Lily turned away and we started with the dishes. Lia instructed me to bring the dog food out and put some on Pucca's pink bowl. She also said I should get some clean water for Pucca's drink. After doing so, I called Pucca and she quickly came with a wagging tail.

"A wagging tail. That means, she's happy." Ysabel said. While putting some of the dishes that Lia finished cleaning to its container.

"Ysabel, so smart yet so gentle." I said, after washing my hands from the dog food.

"Yeah, Ys. You're still silent around grandma. I mean, she's grandma! She's like us, only older. She expects you to talk to her like you do to us." Lia said.

"Show some life girl!" I added.

"Really? I'm like that around her?" Ysabel asked. Then when she saw us pout and nod, she continued with, "Oh, man. I thought I was doing great. Don't worry. I'll talk more often now."

"That's our Ysabel." Then both Lia and I hugged her.

After finishing the dishes, we quickly went up to our room with Pucca running behind us.

"And how do I look?" Lia said, popping out from the bathroom to show us her outfit which is a flowered sleeveless pink top that was paired with a Bermuda shorts and was accessorized with a long chain necklace. She wore brown sandals which complimented her aquamarine toenails, perfectly. It really showed how charmingly looking Lia was.

"Lia! You're so cute!" Ysabel exclaimed.

"Sam?" Lia asked me.

"I'm stunned as always." I said, and then winked at her.

"'Bout you, Pucca?" Lia asked the dog.

"Rufff!" Pucca answered.

"Thank you!" Lia said. "Okay, we're already. Wanna go see the surprise now?"

"Sure." And we all stood up. As always, I wore my worn out dark blue jeans. This time, I partnered it with my Spongebob Shirt—you know, the yellow one with only the eyes, mouth and nose of him. Which obviously implies that the whole shirt is his face.-then my plain yellow Converse All Star. While Ysabel wore a simple metallic silver dress with a chic scoop neckline that was hemmed into different swirls that looked like big roses. The dress was very simple but very elegant which very much complimented Ysabel's angelic face. She finished with a sliver headband that she borrowed from Lia for her blonde hair.

"I think granny's still asleep. We should wait here until she wakes up." Lia said when we got to the living room.

"I'm afraid not, my darling Lia. Your Grandma Lily is very much ready as you are." Lia's grandmother said as she went down the stairs.

"Ruff!" Pucca barked.

"Grandma! You're up so early! Are you sure you're ready?"

"Of course, my dear. We old people don't need much sleep. We would kick the bucket anytime soon anyway. So why would we waste time sleeping if there's so much to explore!"

"Grandma." Lia said, about to start a sermon.

"Oh, no. I'm not about to get a sermon from you, young lady. Now, now. It's your first day as a book seller! You wouldn't want to be late, would you?

"No." We all answered. "But grandma, what about our surprise?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. Follow me." Grandma Lily said. She led us to this red door and when she opened it, the room was very dark. Grandma Lily stood by the side and said,

"You girls ready?"

"Yes!" We answered. Then she pulled down the switch and the lights flickered on one by one.

"What the." I said.

"Ahhhh!" Ysabel followed my reaction.

" Oh my God, Grandma!" Lia said hers.

As the room lights went on, the three of us stood there with our mouths open because there they were. The 2 most wondrous sights I've ever seen, shining exquisitely like they just got here from Australia or Canada. Grandma Lily brought us to the Van der Woods' garage!

The one on the left side was a silver Audi A3. I've noticed it because of the 4 rings which are known as the Audi's trademark. On the far right was a pure black Mercedes C63 Amg. The reversed Y shows that it is one—a Mercedes Benz. I know, I know. Car freak, eh? But really, I find cars very very cool! Not like other girls who are more obsessed in make-ups and boys. Me, I treat cars as my brothers.

"Lia... I know you're rich. But... but.. I didn't know you're this rich!" I said to Lia after admiring the breathtaking view. Then after another minute of silence,

"Me too." Lia answered. I wanted to laugh, really. But how could I, when I couldn't even speak!

"Girls, girls. That's enough. That isn't even your surprise yet." Grandma Lily said, which made my car world go tumbling down.

_**CHAPTER 13**_

"It isn't?" Lia asked, her smile dropped.

"No, of course not. You three are too young to drive a car." Grandma Lily said, after a soft chuckle.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Our driving test is not yet up until September."

"There goes my life flying away with its little flapping wings." I said.

"Sam, you're so immature." Ysabel said to me.

"That's why I kept your surprise behind these two cars." Grandma Lily interrupted which made our smiles grow back. Then she walked aside the silver Audi and we followed. "Here it is!"

"Grandma!" Lia reacted when she saw it.

3 cute scooters lined up tilted to its side—Pink on the right, Cortina Gray in the middle and Capri Blue on the left. Each has its own helmet with a designated color to the scooter.

"It's all Vespa." Grandma Lily added. "That's the only thing available."

"But I thought you said we're too young to drive." Lia said.

"Yes. You're too young to drive cars. But not scooters. Scooters are good. I hope it's alright with you three."

"Alright? Grandma, this is amazing!"

"Thank you!" Ysabel said with glee.

"I'm happy you liked it. It's yours to keep. Just choose the color you like. The keys are found inside the helmet."

"You're not serious, grandma. Are you?" I asked, shocked.

"Grandma Lily, this is too much." Ysabel said.

"Yeah, Grandma. This is too much. Even for me." Lia said.

"But sweetie, you don't visit me every now and then. Who knows? Maybe on your next visit, you'll see me in my death bed."

"Grandma! Don't speak foolish!"

"I just want to give you something to remember me by. To remember this summer that you've spent with each other and with me."

"Grandma, you're making me cry." Lia said, with a shaky voice, hugging her grandma.

"You're so sweet, Grandma Lily. I'm never going to forget this." Following Lia's hug.

"Me too. Never ever." I finally said, completing the circle.

"Now. Now. Enough drama. Let's get to your work." Grandma Lily said, as soon as we released her. "We'll use the silver car for now. And I'll drive."

And so we did. Grandma Lily got the keys to the Audi. Then she started the engine, the garage door opened and we're off. We turned around the corner of our street, Golden Bridge and went to Strawberry Road. Along it, I saw different shops: Preston's Mini Grocery, Riley's Bake Shop, Mendel's Barber Shop and many more.

"Ladies, welcome to the Irisdale Square." Grandma Lily said. We got to the end of the road where there is a small arc and under it a tunnel. Grandma Lily parked on the side of the road.

"We should walk from here. Cars are not allowed to go inside." Grandma Lily said as she turned off the engine. We all opened our doors and came out. The floor was made up of ocean pebbled rocks. We went inside the tunnel. My eyes almost popped out by what we saw, a circle of the Van der Woods' name came into sight! Van der Woods' Gear Shop, Van der Woods' Computer Shop, Van der Woods' Clothing Store and lastly the Van der Woods' Bookstore. The area was not that big, but still.

"Lia, don't tell me you didn't know of all of these." I said.

"Trust me, I don't." Lia answered.

"But Lia, you're so affluent! How can't you know all of that?" Ysabel said, referring to every single store.

"For the nth time, I'm not rich, you guys. My grandparents are."

"Well, rich or not rich, this sure is something." I said.

"I'd like to tour you around but let's save it for later." Grandma Lily said after she realized that we're all dumbfounded. "We first go to your working place. Now, now. Follow me, ladies."

Then she walked by the pebbled floor towards the small building whose sign above says: Van der Woods' Bookstore, carved in a wooden board in an Italic font. She opened the twin wooden doors which have a big see through glass covering ¼ of it. We went in, the bookstore was not that small but neither too big. It's sort of in the middle. From the entrance door, you can already see the 3 divisions of the place. There were three hallways; each has its own label: Kids' Section, Teens' Section and the Adults' Section. Each hallway also has two big brown bookshelves on the side containing the books, of course.

"Ahem." Grandma Lily faked a cough to the person whose feet worn in brown boots is placed on top of this huge desk which read, cashier. So the person must be the teller.

"Ahem." Grandma Lily coughed for the second time. I went closer to see what he was doing. Why is he ignoring the person who apparently owns this place? Then, when I finally got the chance to peek, I knew then that he was sleeping. But I can't actually see the person's face because an opened newspaper was spread on top of him.

"I think he's dead." Ysabel whispered to me.

"He's not, silly." I answered.

"AHEM!" Grandma Lily coughed really loud.

"I'm not gay!" The guy shouted and landed to his bottom because he fell from his chair while the newspaper went flying down the ground. "Ow." He said. We all laughed. Grandma Lily was thwarting herself from doing so.

"You are certainly not, Mr. St. Clair. You must be dreaming. And a very bad one, I might add." Grandma Lily finally said.

"Mrs. Van der Woods! I'm very sorry you have seen that." The guy said as he ran his hand through his tousled dark brown hair but his side swept bangs came right back to place, a gesture of uneasiness, when he got the chance to stand up. He's pretty tall, a six footer if you estimate. He's wearing a beige polo shirt that's buttoned which he paired with worn-out jeans and I guess the Bookstore's uniform. It was only a maroon cloth that looks like an apron that says in a gold print, The Van der Woods' Bookstore. The look on his sapphire blue eyes tells that he's outright nervous and at the same time stunned.

"Oh, Mr. St. Clair, don't be ashamed. Anyone can have nightmares. You must be so tired, what did you even do last night?"

"I just went to this party with my friends. That's why 'em so worn-out. I'm so so sorry. How long have you been here, Mrs. Van der Woods?" He asked.

"Not too long, dear. We just got here. Now, get down here so I could introduce you to my granddaughter and her friends." As he draw closer, Ysabel did the thing she always does when she'll see a hot guy in front of her: she'll grab either Lia's hand or mine and squeeze it. In this case, she grabbed mine.

_**CHAPTER 14**_

"Lia, Sam and Ysabel, this is Nathaniel St. Clair." We all waved our hands and said our hello.

"Nathaniel, I'd like you to meet my lovely granddaughter Lia Van der Woods and her two charming best friends Samantha Parker and Ysabel Stryder."

"Nice to meet you, you can call me Nate if that makes you comfortable." Nate said, as he went around and shook each of our hands.

"Well, Mrs. Van der Woods, they sure are lovely! Will you leave them for me to further orient?" He continued after dropping Ysabel's hand.

"Good idea." Grandma Lily said and then turned to the three of us.

"Oh..my..gosh. He's like a replica of Chace Crawford! Did you see the way he becomes embarrassed?" Lia sort of whispered.

"And, and! He speaks like he's from the Old English Time! So hot." Ysabel added.

"Hate to say this but it's the first time I agree with you guys." I followed. By that, they let out a soft shriek which sent me laughing.

"Girls, girls that's enough. I will leave soon because there's nobody left in the house. Nathaniel shall be the one to further discuss to you about your work. He's very bright, when it comes to academics. And pretty much an all-around guy. He's very good in being both the Cashier and the OIC, that's why I love having him around. He's 16 like you, so I think you four could get along well."

"A hundred times hotter now." Lia said.

"Okay, Grandma Lily. We understand." Ysabel answered for the three of us. Grandma Lily smiled at her and turned back to Nate.

"Well, I think I'll leave the three of them to you, Mr. St. Clair. I wish you'd make them understand the rules and regulations of this place. And share to them your love for books."

"I will, Mrs. Van der Woods." Nate answered, with a smile.

"Girls, I'll be going now. If anything happens, you know the house's hotline, right Lia?"

"Yes." Lia answered her grandmother.

"Goodbye then. And good luck to all of you." Grandma Lily said her last goodbye, and turned to the entrance door; which Nate held on for her. Nate took a long time to come back because Grandma Lily had to say a few things to him, so I thought of a joke to pass the time.

"Hey, you guys, I have a joke." I said.

"Shoot us." Lia said.

"Where do you find giant snails?"

"Where?" Ysabel said.

"Ys, for a smart girl, you sure are no thinker."

"Just say it, Sam."

"On the ends of their fingers." And I laughed my hardest. Until, I've realized that no one's laughing with me, I looked at them.

"Huh?" Ysabel asked.

"You guys! How could you not get it? It's so simple! Giants'. Nails." I explained, blushing from being embarrassed.

"Oh." Ysabel, said. Looking far away. "I would like to correct your grammar though. But then, I pity you so much that I couldn't." She scoffed.

"Sam, you're the lamest joker in the world." Lia commented.

"Oh yeah? Let's hear yours!" I said to Lia.

"Here it goes. What goes Oh, oh, oh?" Lia joked, refraining herself from laughing.

"I hope this is a good one, Van der Woods." I said to Lia.

"Oh, you'll laugh your socks off, Parker." She replied.

"Then, what goes Oh Oh Oh?" I asked.

"Are you ready?"

"Spill it!" I said, excited.

"Santa Claus walking backwards." Lia said before laughing at her fullest. Both Ysabel and I were speechless and we looked at each other.

"Har-har." I said sarcastically.

"Meanie!" Lia said, sticking her tongue out at me. I chuckled.

"You guys. You two are so hackneyed! Neither of you made me laugh." Ysabel finally said.

"Well, well, well. Let's hear Ms. Joker here." Lia said.

"Give it your best shot, Ys. If one of us laughs, I'll treat you an ice cream. But, if neither would, you'll treat the both of us."

"That's kind of unfair, but I'll take it. Deal." Ys agreed.

"If you drop a white hat into the Red Sea, what does it become?" she continued.

"There's a Red Sea?" I asked, amazed.

"You've never listened to Geology, have you?" Lia asked, but before I could protest she went, "Ys, I have an answer."

"What then?" Ysabel said, raising an eyebrow.

"Wet." Except that Lia didn't say it. Most especially not me, I didn't even know what the Red Sea is! Which is why we all turned around and saw the identical twin of Chace Crawford standing there, leaning on his side by the wooden wall, his hands folded across his chest.

_**CHAPTER 15 **_

"I beg your pardon?" Ysabel asked Nate, shocked too. He in response removed his hands from its fold, placed it on his pockets and stood up straight.

"The white hat becomes nothing but wet. You see, Ms. Stryder, everybody knows that the color of the Red Sea is not actually red, but they call it that way because of some reasonable theories. One of them is that the Red Sea borders the Egyptian Dessert, which the ancient Egyptians called the Dashret or "red land". Or, another theory is that the name Red Sea may signify the seasonal booms of the red colored—"

"Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water's surface." Ysabel cut him off by continuing his statement. "Thank you for the information, Mr. St. Clair; but I am already educated about that." Ysabel continued, looking as pink as ever. And when I looked at Nate, I swore myself to never look back again.

"I didn't understand a word they said." I bent to the side and whispered to Lia.

"Yeah, me too. My mind just processed 3 useless words from their argument: the, white and hat." She whispered back.

I refrained myself from laughing. Lia did too. "That's not even counted! I mean, that's too smart of a joke. Wait, wait." I whispered to Lia, remembering something." So…none of us laughed. That means…" And a lingering smile crept into my face. Lia gave me an evil smile as well. And right there, I knew we both thinking the same thing. _Snowdrops._

Until I saw that there was some tension between the two—Ysabel and Nate. So I did something that would stop it. I clapped my hands twice and said,

"Well! That was quite a show. Anyways, Nate, could you give us our uniforms so we could work already? We're all getting paid here to work ya know."

"Sure." Nate said, plainly after the long scary stare at Ysabel. Then he turned around towards the door that says, Stock Room. He was gone for awhile, so we managed the moment to talk.

"Ys, you okay?" Lia asked her.

"Yeah." Ysabel answered, gritting her teeth.

"Ys! He's like a male version of you!" I stated my opinion.

"He is not!" Lowering her voice, just so that Nate wouldn't here. "He's an arrogant and a callous young man who thinks he's a know-it-all!" Ysabel continued, turning back to the shade of pink.

"Yeah, I guess so. But, may I quote what you said earlier about him: 'He speaks like he's from the Old English Time! So hot.'" I teased her.

"Yes, I did say that. But that was before he started saying that I'm stupid."

"He did not, actually." I said.

"But, that was what he meant by explaining to me what the Red Sea is!" Ysabel said, lowering her voice again. _So that means I'm stupid?_ "I loathe him. In truth be told, I loathe him." Ysabel concluded, with a voice I never heard her use before. Then, the Stock room opened.

"Here you go." Nate said, handing us our aprons.

"Sam, please get mine. I can't bear to stand close to that preposterous guy." Ysabel whispered to me. I chuckled and went toward Nate, Lia did too.

"Thank you." Lia said, when she got her apron.

"Um, my friend asked me to get hers as well." I said to him, after I got mine.

"Here." Nate said, as he gave the uniform to me.

"Thanks."

"Okay, let's start with you, Ms. Parker." Nate said.

"Sam. You can call me Sam." I insisted.

"Sam. Well, Sam, your working place would be over there." Nat said, as he pointed over the Kid's Section. "You should be patient with kids, understand? Many kids go over there during midday. If they ask you to read books for them, sit by the stool over there so that you could see them all."

"Got it." I answered.

"Next, Miss Lia? Yes, you're assigned to the teen's section. My only advice to you is that you should interact with your peers. Yours is the easiest job maybe because the people who go there are mostly our age. But, may I remind you that there are some who are obscene and may get in your nerves. Just remember to never, ever get in a fight. Your grandmother won't like it."

"I think I can handle that." Lia answered. "Don't wanna disappoint my grandma."

"And the last one, Miss Ysabel? You're going to handle the elderly. Mrs. Van der Woods told me that you are a book lover so I am hoping you could use that to sell books to them?"

"Try me." Ysabel said, crabbily.

"Just remember, you all work for weekdays only. Some other group will be going to shift with you for the weekends.

"Then that means, this would be our first day and our last day too?"

"For this week; Next week would be another for you and so on. I think this day's just merely for your orientation and practice. Well then, I guess you're all prepared. Please go to your designated sections and get to work."

"And what would be your work, Mr. St. Clair?" Ysabel said, raising an eyebrow.

"My work?" Nate asked, shocked then followed by a soft chuckle. "My work, Ms. Styder is to see if you do your job well."

**CHAPTER 16**

"My work Ms. Stryder is to see if you do your job well." Ysabel mocked what Nate said earlier in the bookstore while getting ready for bed. "Gaaah. He irritates me. He thinks he knows everything. Psh."

"Get over it, Ysabel." Lia said, snuggling under her comforters.

"I agree. And all I wanted to have is an answer to my Red Sea question." I added, pouting.

"Fine. I'll stop now; but if he continues to annoy me tomorrow? Ugh, I don't know what I'll do."

"Sleep." I suggested, closing my eyes and cuddled my pillow.

"It's a Saturday! Give yourselves a tour of the village." Grandma Lily said, while we were having our breakfast.

"By ourselves? But grandma, I don't even remember half of the place. The Irisdale Square is the only place I'm familiar of. Apparently because it's the village's center. And we just went there like yesterday. We might get lost." Lia complained.

"Then tour them to The Square."

"But—" Lia further complained.

"If you don't want to be the guide, I could send Seth. He will be glad to help."

Lia suddenly turned to us. "You guys, did you know that The Irisdale Square covers one fourth of the village? It is where the park is found, there are some shopping centers and there's a small lake called Lake Clarus, which means clear lake in Latin. Its population gets numerous during night than in the morning because every night the lights surrounding the lake lights up making the lake a very pleasing site to see." Then she turned back to Grandma Lily.

"Well grandma, I think I could manage to be a tour guide, after all. In fact, I think I am pretty good."

Ysabel and I both laughed.

Grandma Lily smiled, and said "You could test drive your scooters too."

"Oh yes! Why didn't I think of that?" I said.

After helping Grandma with the dishes, we all changed for our outdoor clothes. Again, I wore my usual dressing habits. But this time, I wore a blue and white checkered polo shirt; a badge detail boy fit jeans and white sneakers. Ysabel wore a plain sleeveless white shirt paired with jeans that fit her legs perfectly and a knee high boots. Lia wore a Tori Cotton Gray Shorts, a bold striped dark blue and white shirt and Tommy Hilfiger sneakers.

"Grandma! We'll be going!" Lia called from downstairs.

"Sure dear, just make sure you'll be back before supper." Grandma Lily replied.

We agreed and we went to the garage.

"I get the blue one!" I said, then ran toward it.

"What color do you want, Lia?" Ysabel asked, looking at her.

"Guess, I'll go with the gray. You're the pink girl remember?"

"Thank you. You know Lia, you must be proud to have a grandmother like Mrs. Van der Woods. She really loves you." Ysabel said.

"I know. I'm proud to be her granddaughter."

"She's incredibly cool too! You know, for a grandma." I added.

"Thanks you guys. I'm happy you like her." Lia smiled. Then after awhile, "You guys, do you remember where the scooters' keys are?"

"I think it's inside the helmet. That's what I remember Grandma Lily said." Ysabel said, striding toward her scooter.

"Found mine! Yeah, she's right, it's in the helmet." I said.

Each of us hopped on each of our scooter. And we placed the helmet on.

"Ooo, shiny." Ysabel said. Then we looked at one another. I whistled, you know, the whistle construction workers do if they see a girl wearing a very mini skirt pass by. Not that my two best friends looked like one of those girls, but they sure look hot.

"You look sizzling too, Samantha." Lia said in reply to my whistle.

"We all do! Oh God, I can't be more excited!" Ysabel said.

"You ready SLY?" I asked, and they both nodded. "Let's scamper!"

**CHAPTER 17**

We took the same route we took yesterday.

"Where will we park?" I asked. Stopping in between the bike section and the car section.

"Maybe we could go in the middle. Besides our scooters will stand out." Lia answered.

"Wouldn't our scooters feel out of place?" I joked.

"No. Quit joking around, Sam. Let's just park here." Ysabel with a tone.

"Cranky much? What's the matter?" Lia asked to Ysabel after we parked our scooters, turned off the engine and removed our helmets.

"Little miss Ysabel's nervous she might bump into Chace Crawford's identical twin." I teased with a grin. Lia chuckled too.

"I am not." Ysabel defended herself. "I'd rather die than meet him again."

"Yeah, right." I answered.

"Alright, you guys. Cut it off. We have to get a move on." Lia interrupted. "First stop, of course, who would miss a Snowdrop Ice Cream, right?"

"Right." I said.

"Mouth-watering Snowdrops!" Ysabel followed.

We followed Lia. She led us to the world famous ice cream store.

"It's so… white." I commented, when we got in.

"And clean." Ysabel followed, and Lia smiled.

"Flavors as always?" Lia asked.

"Flavors as always." We answered.

"Good morning, can I take your order?" The clerk lady said behind the counter. Meryl. Her name tag says.

"Good morning to you too, Meryl. Uhm, One Pistachio Swirl, One Cookies n' Cream Craze and One Crème Brule Blast please. All medium-sized." Lia ordered to the clerk lady who's a redhead wearing a white blouse with a pink lace on her waist and black khakis—their usual uniform.

"One Pistachio, One C n' C and One Crème. Any toppings you might want to add, miss?"

"Uhm, marshmallows for all. Thank you."

"Your order will be ready after two minutes. Please take a sit first and we'll bring it to you." The clerk said with a smile.

"Okay, thank you." Lia said. And then turned to us and said, "Let's sit here, you guys. So we can see the view outside." She led us to the seat beside the big glass window. We followed her.

"Look! They have the Annalisa's! I want to go there next. Please." Ysabel said, when she saw the boutique store just across the street.

"Yeah sure. How about you Sam? Where do you want to go next?" Lia asked.

"I'm thinking I'd go to a sports gear shop. Is there any here?" I asked.

"Of course. Just around the corner over there." Lia answered me.

"Excuse me, ma'am. But here's your order." The previous clerk lady holding a tray of 3 ice creams all lined up perfectly then bringing them down one by one.

"Thank you." We all said.

"Please enjoy your Snowdrops and have a nice day!" She replied.

"I always like the swirls they do with the ice cream. It's so creative." Ysabel said as she examined her Crème Brule.

"Nothing can overrule Snowdrop's taste!" I said as I took a spoon of my C n' C.

Lia just laughed and took a spoon of her Pistachio too.

**CHAPTER 18**

"Done eating?" Lia asked.

"I'm full." I answered.

"Let's go to Annalisa's now!" Ysabel said, excited.

We went out the Ice Cream store and walked across the street where the Maria Annalisa's Boutique was found. When we opened the door, the bells chimed and the place was full of bags, clothes, and accessories.

"I'll be over at the bagging corner; I'm thinking I could buy my mom one." Ysabel said to us.

"Sure Ys. Sam and I will be over at the clothing section." Lia answered.

"Okay." Ysabel answered with a smile and turned around.

"You. Come with me. I know you can't survive any of these." Lia said then laughed. We went to the clothing section. It's full of dresses. Cute but too girly for me. Lia was about to get this cocktail green one when some other hand touched it.

"Oops. Sorry. You can take it. I'm just taking a look anyway." Lia said then put down her hand when she saw her too. She was a redhead. Just like the clerk awhile ago. But compared to the clerk, her hair was more of a long shade of amber with large curls at the end.

"Of course I'll be the one to take it. I saw it first." The redhead said with a tone that made me want to grab her hair and throw her out with extremely great force. Then, after awhile, her eyes grew wider when she saw Lia. "O..M..G! Lia?"

"Huh? You kno-know me?" Lia asked, surprised.

"Lia! How could you forget? I'm Sadie! Sadie Bullet!" Sadie said.

It took a moment before Lia remembered. Then she took a closer look at the girl. "Sadie? You-you've changed!"

"I know, I know. I lost a huge amount of weight after you left. And look, I don't have any braces anymore." Sadie said, then smiled.

"You look amazing." Lia said, then she remembered me. "Oh, Sadie, by the way. Meet my best friend, Sam Parker."

I let out my hand, even though it's against my will, and she held hers out too. "Nice to meet you." I said.

"Nice to meet you too." She said, then smiled. She's pretty. But that's all there is. I bet this girl couldn't answer 1+1. Or if she answered, it would be 11.

"How I miss the times when the two of us are the ones who befriended each other." Sadie said.

"Yes, I know. I miss those times too." Lia answered with an awkward tone.

"It's been a long time now, Lia. Say, why don't we just forget what happened between us in the past and become friends now." Sadie said, followed by a curl at the end of her lip.

"Are you sure?" Lia asked, shocked.

"Lia. Of course I'm sure. It's been what? 6 years? We were young back then. We don't know what we're arguing for."

"Okay then, friends?" Lia asked.

"Friends." She said and held out her hand for an embrace. Lia did it too. "Anyways, I shall be going now. I'm late for a manicure appointment at Elise's. Tootles!" Sadie said.

"It's nice to see you again, Lia." She added.

When she went out, my mouth was like hanging open. But Lia just continued scanning the dresses, like nothing happened.

"Okay, Lia Anile Van der Woods. Spill it out." I said, with my hands on my waist.

"Spill what out?" Ysabel suddenly popped from behind the shelf holding an ivory purse and a magenta one. "You guys, I find it hard to choose between these two. Mom likes both… what's the matter? I leave you two alone and now you're fighting?" Ysabel said, noticing my hand on my waist and Lia's back on me.

"Actually Ys, no one's fighting. I just wanted to know what just happened." I answered.

"Why? What happened Lia?" Ysabel asked, dropping her 2 purses.

"Nothing. Just Sadie." Lia answered us.

"Who's Sadie?" Ysabel asked.

"Yeah, Lia. Who's Sadie?" I seconded her, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you. Just not here, okay? There are so many people. Let's go outside."

We went out looked for a place to sit and found a vacant wooden bench. We sat there, and Lia took a deep breath.

**CHAPTER 19**

"You see, remember when I told you the last time I visited grandma was when I was 10 years old?" Lia asked. And we both nodded.

"I stayed here for 2 years and well, Sadie was my best friend back then." Lia said.

"What was Sadie even like? I didn't get the chance to see her. Darn, I wish I'd save the trip to the bag corner another time." Ysabel said.

"She's a redhead. But her hair was the same color as copper back then not amber. She had braces and freckles on her cheeks and she's a little chubby. But now, she looks very attractive."

"What's her personality?" Ysabel asked.

"Mean, cold-hearted and selfish little witch." I answered her.

"No, Sam. I mean. She was, but. Ugh, how can I explain this? Okay fine. She bosses me around." And when I was about to react, Lia continued with, "But every time there's a girl who plays a joke at me, she's always there to defend me. So how can I hate her?"

"Pull her hair off, remove each of her fingernails and burn them or you could simply send her off to Pluto. Pick one." I said.

Lia ignored me and continued, "Well, I'm shocked by her transformation. She looked absolutely good."

Then I remember what the redhead said when they were still talking_—"Say, why don't we just forget what happened between us in the past and become friends now."_

"Lia, what was the redhead saying about forgetting what happened between the two of you in the past and the both of you being friends again?" I asked.

"Okay. Here's the thing. Seth's in our story." Lia said.

"Ahhhh! Really? Tell! Tell Tell!" Ysabel said.

"Seth's the type of guy who always flatters girls with his smile or the way he speaks. And you two became a victim."

"What? When?" Ysabel asked.

"The airport. He kissed both of your hands. Blablabla. Sadly, Sadie became a victim too. And she was like so in love with him after he told her that her braces were like steels made of rainbow."

I laughed at my fullest, and then said. "I'll never ever ever take that as a compliment."

"Sam. Hush." Lia said to me.

"Sorry." I said, after a few more laughs.

"So let me continue. Sadie told me that if I could talk Seth out about taking her out, she'll name me the best best friend she'll ever have. And so, the next thing I did was to go to Seth and tell him to take Sadie out. Knowing that it would be that easy. Only Seth was too smart to agree with me whole-heartedly. He made me a deal. He'll take Sadie out if I could ride a bike with him every afternoon."

"Now, that's sweet." Ysabel said.

"It isn't I swear. All he ever does every time we rode our bikes was to tease and tease and tease. Eventually, Sadie had known about this and told me that if I ever spend time with Seth again, she'll never be my best friend anymore. So I stopped riding bikes with him. Good thing their date happened before Sadie knew about the bike rides."

"You liked him." I said with a smug.

"Well, sure. Just a little crush I suppose. But not love. I mean we're only 10!" Lia replied.

"Ha! Busted!" Ysabel shouted.

"Yeah, whatever. I hate him now anyway." Lia said.

"What makes that so?" Ysabel asked.

"Remember the picture hanging on the wall of grandma's house? The one where Seth kissed my cheek?" I asked.

"Yeahp! I remember it. Remember it very clear." I said.

"Yeah, that's when the Irisdale's 40th Anniversary was held. Everyone was there. And when I say everyone, I mean even Sadie was there too. Grandma and Mrs. Serrano were very close. So they asked Seth and me for a picture. Want to guess what happened next?"

"Your Grandma and Seth's mom told you to say cheese but instead of saying it, Seth leaned over and kissed you on the cheek and you were shocked. Then after the blinding flash, you saw that Ms. Redhead was behind your grandmother's back and obviously saw everything. Then she ran and you ran after her. Then when you finally caught up with her she told you you're the worst best friend ever and that she'd never want to talk to you again?" I said.

"Exactly." Lia said followed by a smile.

"Well, it's time to thank Seth now!" I said.

"So that's why you hate him? Because you lost your best friend for the reason of that childish kiss?" Ysabel asked.

"Yes." Lia answered.

"But you still like him. Don't you?" Ysabel asked.

"Ys, you're asking me if I hate him and I answered yes and now you ask me if I like him? What do you think my answer would be?"

"Yes." Ysabel said, her smile reaching her ears.

"NO! I don't like him. Okay? That's it. We'll continue our tour. And as we sightsee, I expect the both of you to be quiet! Understand?" Lia said, standing up.

"Yes, ma'am." We both answered then laughed.

"Come on. Sam, you told me you want to go to the Sports Gear Shop, This way." Lia stomped.

"Lia's so cute when she's angry." Ysabel said, chuckling. Then we stood up.

We walked on the pebbled floor and passed by different shops. But here we are, still walking.

"Lia, you told me it's just right around the corner. You didn't say it's around the corner of the next corner and the next." I said to Lia.

"But I know I remember Tim's Sport Shop's really here."

"Try looking at your left. Maybe it'll help." A guy's voice from behind me suddenly came out of nowhere. I turned around and saw Seth. Standing there, wearing jeans, a blue shirt saying 'I feel blue.' and of course, a huge grin on his face.

We said our hello's except for Lia whose greeting is very different from ours.

"Why are you here?" She asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Seth answered, giving a shrug. "It's a free country"

"Then be somewhere else. Not here with us." Lia said.

"Lia, that's not nice. The guy's doing us a favor." Ysabel said, giving Lia a smug.

"Yeah, Lia. For a second there, you really needed my help. You can get lost you know." Seth added.

"Ugh. Whatever. Just make sure you stay at the back. So I can't see your face." Lia said then she turned around.

"By you, you mean me and my cousin right?" Seth added.

"What?" Lia asked, turning back.

"Isaac. Isaac Serrano. My cousin. He's just buying some Shake for the two of us. Would you like one too? Maybe I could catch up with him. My treat." Seth said, giving another one of his dazzling smiles.

"No, no thanks. I'm fine." I said.

"Me too." Ysabel said.

"How 'bout your grumpy friend?" Seth said, pointing to Lia whose hands are crossed on her chest.

"Grumpy friend, you like some shake?" I asked Lia, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"No thanks." She said. Still not looking.

"I'll just tell him to hurry up." Seth said, then turned around and ran to the store beside the Sports Shop.

"I bet his cousin's the same as he is." Lia said.

"Seth's not that bad, Lia." Ysabel said.

"Whatever you say." Lia said. The same time Seth came out holding his cup of shake followed by a guy with the same height, same hair—only with some brown streaks, also holding his own cup.

"Ladies, meet my cousin Isaac Serrano." Seth said, introducing us to Isaac.

"It's nice to meet you." He said. And just like Seth he gave his own glittering smile. By then, I knew Ysabel already grabbed Lia's hand and squeezed it. Obviously because no one grabbed mine.

**CHAPTER 20**

The day went along pretty well. Seth and his cousin helped Lia in touring us. And we all went home at about 5:30 pm.

"Is it just me? Or are the cousin Serrano's are naturally hot?" Ysabel said, when we were getting ready for bed.

"How old was that Isaac again?" I asked.

"Seventeen like Seth. Why? Are you starting to get along with your feminine side?" Lia answered me.

"No. Just wondering." I answered

"Anyway, enough chit-chat. Who knows what'll happen tomorrow. Let's just rest for now okay?" Lia said.

It was in the midst of morning when I woke up. Both Lia and Ysabel were still sleeping. I don't know why I woke up very early. But I'm certain that the next thing I want to do was to jog.

So slowly, I tiptoed from my bed to my closet and went directly to the bathroom. I got on my jogging pants, a loose jacket and tied my hair into a ponytail after washing my face and brushing my teeth.

Carefully, I opened my topmost drawer and got my iPod Shuffle, clipped it at the bottom of my jacket and fixed my earphones. I opened the door, hoping no creaking sound would be heard. I came down stairs and open the entrance door.

The outside was still foggy and the leaves were still full of dew due to the morning mist. But I can already see the sun shining down.

"Good morning, Mrs. Phyllis." I shouted to the old lady next door who wakes up every morning just to water her roses—my favorite flower. She adjusted her glasses, looked at me, then smiled.

"Good morning, Bridget." She shouted back. I smiled, not bothering to correct her instead, I clicked my iPod on and I started jogging. I kept in mind every street I turned to so I could go back as soon as possible. I was starting to pant heavily after a few runs until I heard some guys shouting, despite of my earphones.

"Pass it! Pass it!" One guys shouted.

"Over here!" Another guy said.

I turned around to see what was going on. As I followed their voices, it led me to this medium sized field. Three to four gym bags placed on these large metal benches.

"Score a goal, dude! Snowdrops on the line if we win!" A guy said, as he ran across the field.

They were clearly playing soccer because there were goals on the two opposite sides of the field, they were using a soccer ball and they were running swiftly across the field passing the ball to one another. Three black haired, three blondes and one brown haired. The brown haired guy was the goalie for one team while for the opponents' side was one of the black haired.

I sat on the lowest bench beside one of the gym bags, removed the earphones of my iPod from my ears and watched them play.

"You'll never win Paul, cause we've got the best player here!" One of the black haired guys shouted at the blonde one on the other side.

"Let's see about that, Carter." Then, the Paul guy did a move that distracted the one who had the ball and he stole it.

"Darn." The Carter guy said then ran faster to catch the Paul guy.

Paul was kicking the ball towards the goal.

"Isaac! Whip it!" The Carter guy told the other blonde who nodded in reply and ran swiftly beside Paul. _Wait, wait, wait. Isaac? The name sounds familiar. _I thought, and then turned back to the game. The Isaac guy did a block tackle and made the ball pop over his opponent's foot. He had the chance to steal it from him.

"Nice, Isaac! Now, do us all a favor and let our buddy Paul here know what the legendary Isaac Serrano is all about." The Carter guy said. Isaac grinned at Carter with his teeth shown. _Ahh, now I remember._ I thought. He did something with his foot that made the ball go up and land on his chest. When the ball went right back down the ground and bounced, Isaac turned sideways and hit the ball with his right foot. He hit it pretty well. The next thing I knew, the ball went in the goal and the brown haired goalie was on the ground failed to do his job.

"And we have a winner!" Carter said, as he ran toward Isaac and made him do a high five. Followed by "Nice man. That was a good one."

"Show off." I whispered to myself, wishing no one heard me and I stood up and walked away like nothing happened. Until I heard the most irritating words I ever heard in my whole life.

"I know, I know. No one could do better."

Those words made me turn back and walk straight to the guys.

"Pardon me, mister. But did I hear it right? Did you say no one could do better than your goal?"

"Well yeah. That was my move." Isaac said.

And I laughed. Just like that. I laughed.

"What's so funny?" Isaac said irritated.

"You." I answered, then laughed once more.

"Me? I didn't even make a joke. What are…you… Wait. Wait. Wait. I remember you!" Isaac said, pointing at me. I felt that every guy was eyeing on me. "You're Lia's friend! Am I right?"

"Positive. And also positive that I can prove you wrong." I said, crossing my arms on my chest.

"What? Wrong about what?"

"That no one can do better than what you did." I answered.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Isaac said, about to laugh.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" I said then gave him the meanest look I could give.

"But, but you're a girl! Aren't you supposed to be in the mall shopping or doing some make up or putting some of that green stuff on your face?"

Now that bugged me. I put my hands on my hips and said, "Psh. So, what if I'm a girl huh? I can't do stuff you guys can? Tsk. Screw that. Give me the ball and I'll show you how to be a real man."

"Ooo." The guys said at the back and did a high five with each other.

"Ouch man." Carter said then patted Isaac on his broad shoulders. Isaac turned red.

"So are you giving the ball or not?" I asked.

"Fine. Let's see what you got." Isaac said then chest passed the ball to me. I caught it smoothly and smiled at him.

**CHAPTER 21**

I rolled my pants up to my knees until I was sure it will not roll back down.

"You're not wearing spike shoes." Isaac said plainly.

"No problem. I'll just make two goals anyway. I'm not playing." I said then smiled at him. "This is your move right? What you did earlier? A chest trap?" I asked then turned to face the ground and took a deep breath. Then, I flipped the soccer ball up and jumped to aim it to my chest. Then I let it come down, turned sideways, and kicked it with my right foot. It went straight to the goal alright, went in there, perfectly.

"Sh-sh-she scored." The brown haired guy stuttered.

"Sh-sh-she scored well." Paul seconded his friend.

"Man, you're screwed." Carter said, again patting Isaac's shoulder.

"Thanks you guys." I said to them. "Isaac? Wanna see more from me?" I smiled at him.

"That's just luck, love. Hit it with your own move." Isaac dared smiling, his hands crossed on his chest. My jaw dropped. _No one ever calls me love. You'll regret that, you numbskull_. I thought to control my temper. I just looked at the ball and got ready for my exceptional move.

"Boy, is it just me or is it getting hot out here." Isaac said. And the next thing I knew, he took his shirt off. I didn't mean to look at him but I accidentally caught a glimpse. Oh fine. I'll admit it. My knees kinda wobbled a little. Good thing no one noticed. Come on, he has a six-pack and a pierced navel—a body you would never imagine being owned by a numbskull like him. But whatever, that wouldn't sidetrack me. Puh-lease. I'm a focused girl.

"You think what you're doing will distract me?" I asked him, with one of my eyebrows raised.

"Nope. Why? Are you distracted?" He answered with his own question. Giving me a smug.

"Absolutely not." I quickly said then turned to the ball and did my trick. The ball went to the goal again. I huffed for satisfaction. I turned around to face him and said, "That's how you do it, Serrano." And I turned around and walked out the field. As I strode away, I heard some of them murmur.

"You just got soaked, man." Carter said.

"A girl just kicked your butt." Another said.

"Shut up, Aaron." Isaac said.

"And you actually took your shirt off for diversion. What kind of dumb guy do you think you are dude?" I noticed the voice, Paul.

"Ugh. Whatever. Say what you want to say. But for your information, my diversion worked. I saw her knees wobble. Whaddya say about that, huh?" Isaac said. That made me put one of my hands on my mouth. _Oh my God, Oh my God. He saw. HE SAW. HOW EMBARASSING. _I thought. And I wanted the ground to crack open and suck me in. Instead, I quickened my strides until they're all out of my sight.

I went behind one of the big trees I've encountered. I checked my heartbeat. Yeahp, it was beating pretty fast. Then after awhile, I took a deep breath and released it. I was smiling. And the next thing I knew, I returned my earphones back on my ears and continued my jogging like nothing happened.

**CHAPTER 22**

"Where did you go?" Ysabel asked as soon as I reached home. They were already eating breakfast. It was already 9:00 A.M.

"Just went out for a jog. I just feel like it."

"A jog for 2 hours? Then why aren't you the same size as that of a toothpick by now?" Lia joked.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." I said sarcastically.

"Then what really happened to you dear?" Grandma Lily suddenly asked as she went back to the dining coming from the kitchen. She gave me my own plate, glass and utensils. I sat down beside Lia.

"You see, I was really jogging. I mean, really. Then, when I passed by the street just around the corner, I heard some guy voices so I came to check it out. Then I saw them playing soccer. And you know me. So I watched them. Then I noticed that Seth's cousin was there. Isaac. No one noticed me but when I was about to leave because their game was done—Isaac ended it with a goal—he said things that I didn't like."

"What did he say?" Ysabel asked.

"He said that no one could do better than his goal."

Ysabel and Lia looked at each other, and laughed.

"I guess I know what happened next." Lia said. "You turned back and embarrassed him in front of his peers by scoring a goal yourself?"

"Well, that's not actually my intention—to humiliate him, I mean.—I just wanted to teach him a lesson. That even if he's good at soccer, he doesn't have to be a bighead."

Ysabel and Lia looked at each other again. And this time they laughed louder.

"What can we do? That's Sam, alright." Ysabel said, after a few laughs.

"Girls, girls. I don't understand. Samantha, you what? You humiliated Mr. Serrano?" Grandma Lily said, shocked.

"Grandma, you see. That's why Sam hates boys. She thinks that they think they're good at everything; that no one could do better than them, even girls." Lia said to her Grandma, who nodded in response and sighed after.

"Don't judge the book by its cover, darling. I'm sure you will get along with Mr. Serrano soon." Grandma Lily advised, then followed by a soft laugh.

It's hard trying not to tell the "best"—for me the horrid part—of the whole thing to your best friends. So the moment, Grandma Lily told us to bathe Pucca, this was what happened.

"He took his shirt off." I suddenly said, because my mouth was itching to tell.

The next thing I knew, the hose went flying around because Lia loosened her grip. Her mouth hung open. Same with Ysabel, who by that time was shampooing Pucca.

"He did what?" Lia asked after a long pause.

I bent down and turn the water off. "I think it was a sort of distraction so I couldn't get the ball into the net."

"And you were distracted?" Ysabel asked this time.

"What? Me? Oh, psh. Ha! Tsk, me? No. No way." I stuttered.

They stood up, put their hands on their hips and raised a single eyebrow. The gesture I hated the most.

"What? I told you. I wasn't." I told them, which made their eyebrows go way up. "Oh, alright. Ugh. I hate it when you guys do that. Fine. My knees kinda wobbled. A little. Okay, A little. But I still made a goal." I shrugged. Lia sat down again and opened the hose.

"Good." Lia said followed by a smile.

"You're officially getting in touch with your girly side, Sam! I'm so proud!" Ysabel said.

"Psh. " I said, then rolled my eyes.

"Psh this." Lia said, than aimed me the hose. I was soaked. Soaked badly.

"LIAAAAA!" I shrieked then after a few moments, I laughed. Both of them laughed with me too.

"Gaah, I think this will be my best summer ever." I said.

"No, this will be our best summer ever." Ysabel seconded me.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Pucca barked.

"You think so too, don't you little girl?" I cooed at Pucca.

**CHAPTER 23**

"Wakey, wakey girls! The bookstore's waiting." Grandma Lily said, opening the curtains.

"What day is it?" I groaned.

"Oh, yeah. It's a Monday. It just feels like a Saturday to me." Ysabel moaned then scratched her eyes.

I had on my long-sleeved gray shirt, jeans and white sneakers. As always, my hair was worn up. Ysabel wore hers down, and had on a white Sunday dress with some vintage prints on it, then slipped in to her white flats. Lia, on the other hand, wore a camouflage green Capri pants, a peach top with some random printing and a peach Converse.

"Long-sleeves. For summer?" Lia asked.

"Yeah. Besides, it has thin linen, it won't heat me up." I answered her.

"Are you ready, girls?" Grandma Lily asked when we got to the garage where we put our scooters.

"Yes, grandma." Ysabel said, then smiled.

"You have your keys?" Grandma Lily asked again.

"Yeahp, grams." I answered her and hopped in on my scooter.

"Remember to put your helmet on and drive safe. Understand ladies?" Grandma reminded.

"Okay, Grandma. We'll be going now. Take care in here. Love you. Say bye to Pucca for us!" Lia said and tested her engine.

"Okay I will. Drive safe! Goodbye. I love you too darlings."

We were off. When we got to the Irisdale Square, we parked our scooters to our usual parking place and we walked from there. We went through the tunnel and got to the bookstore. Lia opened the doors and the bells chimed.

"Good morning, Nate." She greeted him.

"Morning, Nate." I seconded her greeting.

"Hello, ladies. It is good that you're not late on your first official day at work That's a fine start." Nate answered us, looking up from his computer and then smiled.

"Thank you." Lia replied for the three of us. Although I'm not quite sure if Ysabel likes it.

"Now, get your uniforms here and let's start working."

I followed Lia towards our uniforms and got mine and Ysabel's. I got our newly made nametags too. Mine says, Sam. Nate turned back to his work.

"What were you thinking not greeting him good morning?" I whispered at Ysabel and gave her, her uniform and nametag. She responded with a smile, got it and went directly to the Adult Section. I shook my head in response and pinned my nametag on my uniform.

The crowd is growing bigger and bigger. There were some teenagers, some old aged people and some parents. And when there are parents, there always be little children. And when there are little children, there's always disaster. I can't even see who's already entering the bookstore because of the children all around me.

"No, no! Don't pull each other's hair off!" I shouted at the two little girls fighting over a Little Mermaid story book. And ran towards them.

"Shh!" A boy with eyeglasses about 5 or 6 years of age, said putting one of his small pointer fingers on her mouth.

"Sorry." I mouthed at him. I reached the two fighting girls. One was blonde while the other a brunette.

"Give it to me!" The blonde said, pulling the book.

"No! It's mine!" The brunette answered.

_Oh, man. Doesn't any of these two know what sharing means? _

"Hey, you two. Stop it!" I said to them, kneeling and pulling them away from each other. "Who started it?"

"Camille did!" The brunette said, pointing at her enemy. _Okay, a very dumb idea to ask who started it. _

"No, I didn't. Keera did. Don't you believe me, miss?" Camille said, her hazel eyes, watery.

"No, no. Don't cry. Please. Don't cry. Ugh. God." I said, putting my hand on my forehead as a sign of frustration.

"Are you mad, miss?" The brunette asked.

"No, I'm fine." I answered Keera. Then I remembered something. "Is this the last story book left on the shelf?"

"Yes, miss. That's why we're fighting over it because we both like it." Camille answered me.

"Are you two best friends?" I asked them. And they both nodded politely. "Well, then. Miss Sam has a wonderful idea. Wait here." I demanded, and ran towards Nate by the counter.

"Yo, Nate. Are there any stocks of Little Mermaid story books? 'Cause two girls are fighting over it back there." I requested.

"Hang in there, I will check." Then he turned to his computer. I went inside the counter and watched what he did. He activated the Search Button and typed the title of the book. Another window popped out and I saw a series of Little Mermaid books with different titles, the number of stocks and where it was located.

"Glad to say, there is. 4B Shelf. 9th column." Nate answered.

"Thanks." I said. Then patted his shoulder. And I went directly to the Stock Room.

"4B, 4B, 4B." I said to myself. When I found the shelf, I count for the ninth column. "three, six, nine! Okay. Got it." I went out from the stock room and ran towards the two fighting girls who were sitting away from each other.

"'Kay, problem solved, girls!" I shouted. Then showed them the two new story books I'm holding.

"Wow! Thank you!" Camille said, her eyes gleaming and hugging the book.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Keera seconded her answer.

"No problem. Now, shake each other's hands and be friends again."

"Sorry, Keera." Camille said.

"Me too, Camille. I'm very sorry." Keera answered and hugged her best friend. And they started hopping and skipping and hopping.

"Phew!"I said, about to fall down from where I was standing.

**CHAPTER 24**

"Excuse me, miss?" A little girl said, while pulling the lower part of my uniform. Her fine golden hair worn in pigtails and her small yellow sleeveless dress swayed as she did her every pull. She's very adorable.

"What can I do for you, princess?" I asked, bending down. I saw that her eyes were baby blue and her cheeks were rosy. She's like a miniature of Ysabel!

"Well, I like this one book and it's very high. I can't reach it. See?" She said, and then she pulled me towards the third shelf and she reached high for the book with her two small and subtle hands but didn't have the slightest chance to get to it.

"Aww. Don't worry. I'll get it for you. Wait here." I said to her and then turned to find the ladder. I saw that it was used by Lia and said to the little girl. "Princess, what's your name and how old are you?"

"My name is Abigail and I'm three years old." The little girl replied, with a very adorable smile that showed her single dimple on the left.

"Well then, Abigail. Would you mind waiting for a little while? Because my friend Lia is still using the steps. Is that okay?" I asked.

"What?" Then, her eyes were starting to get watery.

"No, no no. Don't cry. Man, what is it with kids. Oh, come on. Here." I said, carried her then made her sit on one of the stools.

"Wait here, and I'll get your book." I said then turned to find another stool. I stood on to it and turned to Abigail. Let me tell you, being tall is an advantage.

"What's the title of the book, Abigail?"

"Thumbelina." She answered, her feet swaying back and forth because it can't reach the ground.

I looked for Thumbelina and found out that it was at the end part of the shelf and I'm at the other end. So, the next thing I did was to go down and move the chair further to the right and climbed on it again.

"This one?" I asked Abigail referring to the Thumbelina book.

"Well, I kind of changed my mind miss. Is it okay if you get the Frankenstein Coloring book over there? Abigail asked, pointing to the other side of the shelf.

"Oh. No problem, princess." I said, then went down again and moved the chair back to the left then climbed on. I grabbed The Frankenstein Coloring Book. "Here you go, Abigail." I said, handing over the book to her.

"I didn't say Frankenstein. I said Madeline." She answered me, her hands on her waist.

"What? You didn't. You said Frankenstein." I said, starting to get irritated.

"Are you already mad, miss?" She asked, when I went down to go to the other shelf and get the Madeline Book.

"No, no. I'm not." I said, the same time I reached the book she likes.

"Good! So, you don't mind getting the Little Red Riding Hood over there?" She asked once more, referring to the book on the first shelf. I looked at her and she was chuckling. That did the trick. I went down with a thump.

"Listen, princess or Abigail or whatever. I'm working here. So I will ask you the nicest way I could possibly do. Abigail? Would you mind giving me the list of books you want to buy without making fun of me so I won't look like a fool going up and down this stool trying to get every single book that attracts you?" I said to her.

"Th-that's not nice." Was what she said. Then she went down from the stool and stormed out of the children section.

"Oh pickles, I think she's gonna call for her momma. I'm doomed!" I said to myself. "What to do? What to do?" I asked myself. "Ah!" And then I started to clean up all the misplaced stools and aligned them on one place. After that, I tried to fix the books on each shelf.

"What is it, Gail?" A guy's voice asked that made my heart pump harder than ever. _She did not call for her momma. She made it much worse. She called for her father! NOOOOO! _I thought. I turned around to face the shelves and tried to fix some other books, so that they'll think I did not do anything. I caught a glimpse of Abigail's yellow dress on my side view. _Relax, Sam. Relax. You're innocent. That evil twit was the one who started it all. You'll just talk to her father like another customer. _I thought deeper.

"Excuse me, miss?" The guy said. I did not face him. "Miss? Can you hear me? My sister is kinda complaining about you. Is everything alright?" He asked again.

"Sister?" I asked, and then I turned around to face them. "No… way."

**CHAPTER 25**

"Unbelievable." I said. "So that means, you're Abigail Serrano."

"I prefer Gail Serrano." Abigail said.

"Honestly, how many Serrano's do you have in this place?"

"Many." Abigail answered me.

"Well then. I guess I've made a new motto. 'Like brother like sister.'"

"May I remind you Miss… Miss…I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Isaac asked. _How dare he not remember my name!_

"Nobody. I will not tell you my name because you are a total stranger." I told him.

"For your information, I am not a total stranger because I am the cousin of your best friend's friend. And if you will not tell me your name, I am happy to know it by myself." He said and then bent down to tell Abigail to wait there. Then he stood up and started to walk towards me. Every step he draws corresponds to every loud pump in my chest.

"Wha-what do you think you're doing?" I stuttered when he was getting closer.

"I told you. I need to know your name." He said with his most soothing voice. Then when he was already in front of me, he leaned down.

I swear with my whole heart. I swear, I really do swear he was going to kiss me. So the next thing I did was the most humiliating thing I've ever done in my whole 16 years of living. I closed my eyes.

"Sam." He said plainly and I opened my eyes to see that he was just looking at my nametag. I stumbled but grabbed hold of one of the shelves. "May I remind you Miss Sam, the rule of every store in the world that the customer knows best. And right now, as I can see it, my sister and I are your costumers and you are the employee."

"You're just getting back at me because I kicked your butt at soccer." I was able to say.

"Probably; or maybe I just want to be friends with you without you cutting my head off."

"That's never going to happen." I said.

"Ouch. That's not the way to treat a customer. Am I right, Gail?" He put his hand on his chest to show that he was hurt then asked his sister. Abigail nodded.

"But, I can always ask your OIC."

"You wouldn't."

"Yes I would. And I'll start right…" He said, then turned to his watch. "Now." And then he turned around and went directly to Nate, leaving Abigail behind. I walked towards her and sort of knelt down.

"Is your brother always like that?" I asked her.

"Pretty much. He does that to all the new employees here. Actually, we both do. Sort of a prank. I'm the one with the puppy dog eyes and then he will be the one threatening them."

"Ah. So he's just frightening me, eh? And he's using you? You agree on that?"

"It's fun! When I see the faces of the new ones, I laugh. They look really scared."

"You know, that's bad Abigail. Very bad. That's not how a princess like you should act. You have to be nice to people, not throw jokes at them." I said, to her, touching her curls.

"Really?" She said, then looked at her brother. "Woops!" She alleged then covered her mouth with her little hand. And her cute eyes grew wider. "Miss Sam, please don't tell Isaac that I told you. I forgot."

"Don't worry Abigail. I won't. Your brother will get his luck from me someday." I said in irony.

"Thank you!" Then she hugged my neck. "You know Miss Sam, I like you better than the other girls we made pranks on because you are not hypnotized by my brother."

"Hypnotized?" I asked then she lifted her head to look at me. I saw that her cheeks were pretty pink.

"Well you see Isaac and Cousin Seth are the only good-looking boys in the family. Cousin Damian has a big mole on his chin and Cousin Finn has a buckteeth." She explained and I chuckled. I looked at Isaac and he was still talking to Nate.

"What about the girls? Are the girls pretty?"

"Yes! The Serrano girls are loved by many in Irisdale because they are very pretty." Then, she jumped off me and twirled around adorably.

"They? How about you? You're absolutely gorgeous, Abigail." I said, then stroke her pink cheeks.

"Thank you. That's because of my Momma. She's very very pretty too, you know Miss Sam? She was supposed to be the one coming with me today but she needs to go to work. I want you to meet her someday, Miss Sam."

"She must be very beautiful to have a daughter like you." I said, then she hugged me once more.

"And a son like me." Isaac suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I stood up, and grabbed hold of Abigail so she will not stumble. I turned to her and told her to go make friends with some other children reading.

"If you think you can lure my sister into your evil plan of getting back at me because I talked to your OIC, think again. Gail is a tough one. And by the way, Nate is going to talk to you after work." Isaac said when Abigail was gone.

"What an ape." I said. "You do know how much I hate you right now, do you?"

"I know and I'm liking every bit of it."

"You know, at first I thought you were a good guy. But I guess a lot of first impressions are wrong, eh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a guy and I hate the way you treat girls. You don't know how to be sweet or romantic; you get girls because of your looks and vanity. I hate the way you take your shirt of just to distract them. I hate the way you praise yourself so that they'll fall madly in love with you. I hate the way you use different soothing voices to hypnotize them. And lastly, I hate the way you classify them to the class lower than that of the man's." I told him. And I saw his eyes grew wider and his mouth slightly open. "Let me tell you one thing, Serrano. Your tactics of getting girls may have worked slightly on me. But this girl," I said, pointing to myself "you will never get."

And the next thing I did was to walk out from the children's section and went to Nate.

"Nate." I said to him, followed by a few soft pants.

"What can I do for you, Sam?"

"Listen here. I know about your team up with Isaac and your little prank with the newbies. It almost worked on me. But you won't do that to Lia or Ysabel would you?"

"You knew? How did you know? You weren't supposed to be part of the prank, Sam. Nor Lia and Ysabel."

"Then why did Isaac tell me that you will talk to me, later after work? And what were you two discussing over here awhile ago? What was all that, huh?"

"I was telling him that you three were not supposed to be included in the prank. I told him to lay back. But I guess he didn't listen. I'm sorry. Don't worry, I'll speak to him about this." Then when he saw me nod he continued with, "Would you mind telling me who told you about it?"

"I won't tell. Just promise me, you won't do that again. It's very mean, you know." I said and saw Isaac and Abigail leave the bookstore.

"I'm really sorry, Sam. Don't worry; I'll withdraw from doing it again."

"Good." I said, satisfied. And then turned back to the children's section. _Boys. _I thought. _I'll never understand them._

**CHAPTER 26**

"It's been a week since you've met him, Sam; and you're still mad?" Lia said, when we were eating breakfast.

"He's the one with the problem. Not me. And it's a very good thing I'm not feeling his presence anymore. But I just wish I could see Abigail again." I answered her.

"Maybe he changed already." Ysabel said.

"Wanna bet?" I dared.

"No, thank you." Then she turned back to her sunny side up.

"That guy will never change. I tell the both of you."

"But it's good you told him his wrong doings." Ysabel added.

"Got that right!" I answered her then down came the hotdog from my mouth.

"Girls, would you mind buying your grandmother some groceries?" Grandma requested from the kitchen while she was washing her plate.

"Sure grandma." We all answered.

"The shopping list is at the fridge. You can get it when you're ready to go."

"Okay." Lia answered.

"Eggs?" Lia said.

"Check." Ysabel answered, looking at the shopping list Grandma gave us.

"Milk?" I asked.

"Check." Ysabel answered again.

"Bacon?"

"Check."

"Chili Sauce?"

"Check."

"Carrots. We need to find some carrots." Lia said.

"My favorite!" I said.

I pushed the cart as I followed both of my best friends towards the Fruits and Vegetables.

"Excuse me, miss? Where can we find the carrots?" Ysabel asked the saleslady. She led us to the carrots just beside the broccolis and the cabbages.

"Thank you." Ysabel said to her.

"One pack of carrots, done. And the last, anchovies. Wait, I think I saw it over there." Lia said, going straight ahead.

"And we're done!" I said.

"Let's go to the cashier." Lia said.

"$55.00, Miss." The teller said, after swiping all the products.

"Here." Lia gave him $60.00.

"Here's your change, Miss." The teller said, closing the cash register. "Thank you for shopping at Marty's Supermarket. Please come again. Next customer please."

He said lousily.

"I'll take the other two. You two take one each." I said to them when we got to the parking area.

"Are you sure Sam?"

"Positive." I said. Then got the two grocery bags and placed them between my feet on the platform. I put my helmet on and turned on my engine.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeahp." They both said. And we started to drive.

After we left the road where the Marty's Supermarket was located, we soon found ourselves driving along different houses. Some were Victorian, some were bungalows and some were Romanian.

"I love the houses!" I shouted, so that they could hear.

"Me too!" Lia shouted back.

"Me three!" Ysabel shouted hers.

We reached the two lane road where we are surrounded by trees on both sides. This is my favorite part of the trip to the supermarket because the breeze is so relaxing.

_Ppppffffffff! Pffshhhhh! Pffffff!_

"What the?" I said. "What's wrong?" My scooter suddenly slowed down until it eventually stopped.

"No, no, no, no!" I said. I stepped on the engine but there was no respond.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Ysabel asked after they came back for me.

"My scooter. It won't start."

"Ride with me or Ysabel. We'll just call a tow truck. It's a scooter, it'll be easy because it's lighter than a car." Lia suggested, removing her helmet.

"No, no. I think I could fix it." I said. Then I removed my helmet. Retied my hair and went in front of the rear wheel for the engine.

"Let me see." I said, opening it and checked the wires of the engine.

"Sam, it might take too long. Are you sure you can do this?" Lia asked.

"What's my name?" I asked.

"Sam Parker." Lia answered.

"And what do Sam Parkers do to make the world a better place?"

"Play sports and Fix cars."

"You're forgetting something." I said with a smug.

"Sam Parker hates boys." Ysabel answered for Lia.

"Perfect." I said then turned to the engine. "Don't worry, this will just take a minute or two."

"Okay. But if you need something, we'll be over by well.. The trees. Where else?" Lia said, with a laugh. "Come on Ys." And Ysabel followed.

I tried to find the different colors of the wire. There's the blue, red, yellow and green.

"Let me see if I remember. The yellow is for the beep, the green is for the breaks, the blue is for the lights and the red is for the… for the… for the… ah! The accelerator!" I said to myself.

_What was that again? Red over blue beside yellow over green? Or was it blue over red? Crap._

Fixing cars is very addicting. I tell you, very addicting. So addicting that sometimes you lose track of time.

"Sam, is your two minutes equivalent to me and Ysabel counting every single tree in this road?" Lia said sarcastically.

"Sam, Lia's right. We should call a tow truck or something. Grandma might be worried by now." Ysabel seconded her.

"Just a sec." I answered them both.

"Ugh." Lia reacted. I ignored her.

"Look! There's a Toyota Car! Maybe we could hitch a ride."

"Good idea. Good idea." Lia said and then extended her arm and raised her thumb up.

"No! Don't hitchhike! They're total strangers! Who knows what they'll do to us?" I said to them both. Which Lia ignored too. The Toyota car was getting closer and closer.

"Lia stop that!" I whispered to her. Which she ignored for the second time.

The car was only a feet away and Lia kept on moving her arm up and down. Not until the car passed us.

"Ha-ha." I teased. "It's a sign. A sign that you should wait for me."

"Look, look! There's another! But it's a pickup." Ysabel said again, pointing to the coming red beat up old pickup truck. _Ysabel, you sure are not helping. _I hot her al look but she ignored it.

"Lia Anile Van der Woods, don't you dare. It's a beat up pickup truck. There's more possibility that there's a maniac in there!" I said to her but she didn't listen. Instead, she raised her arm and thumb up again and smiled at me.

Like the Toyota, the pickup came closer. But unlike it, it stopped in front of our scooters and out came the most irritating guy I've ever met. Worse than a maniac, I 's the time Lia turned around and gave me a wide eyed stare and a shocked look. Then she walked toward me and knelt down so we're of the same height.

"It's a sign. A sign that we did good waiting for you." she whispered a tease.

**CHAPTER 27**

"What are you doing here?" I asked standing up. He was a good 3 inch taller than me.

"You look worn-out. Maybe you could use some help?" Isaac offered.

"I don't need any help." I answered him then turned back to my work.

"The guy's offering you some help, Samantha. Accept it." Ysabel said to me.

"No." I answered her.

"Ysabel, let's go to our scooters and leave them both so they'll work things out. But Sam, remember our ears are widely open." Lia warned, tugging Ysabel away.

"I've got some spare tires at the back of the pickup. Need some?" He offered again.

"I don't need tires. Can't you see I'm working on the wires here?"

"Well then, I guess I'll be going now. You look like you don't need any help after all." He said, backing down a step.

"Fine, go." I said. But he didn't move. _Aww! Oil in my hands. Crap, what a day. The fuel tank is open! _

I sighed and said, "What do you want now?"

"I told you, I want to be friends with you."

"And I also remember telling you that I don't want to."

I heard him sigh then said after awhile, "Sam, actually we haven't formally introduce ourselves with each other. I mean like you say your name and I say mine?"

I ignored him and just closed the fuel tank and continued fixing the wires.

_Blue over Red below Yellow over Green._ I just focused on remembering the position of the wires.

"You know, most boys don't like girls who know cars better than them." Isaac said. Something inside me says that I should be surprised by what he said. But whatever, I just want him to leave. So the next thing I did was to bung up every word he says.

"And you stated that because?"

"For no reason." He said, plainly with a shrug.

"For no reason? Or… because you're starting to like me?" I tried to ask him, at the same time I looked up at him.

"I… I.. didn't say that."

"Good." I said, and then I stood up after closing the engine. "Funny, 'cause a second ago, I thought you were about to." I smiled angelically and continued with, "Anyways, you said earlier that we weren't introduced properly right?"

"Well, yeah." He answered me.

I held out my hand with the grease. He didn't see it. But still, he just looked at it.

"You're supposed to shake hands with it, not stare." I instructed. He did so, the same time I smiled and said, "Name's Sam Parker and its so wonderful meeting you." I quickly let go of his hand, grabbed my helmet and hopped right on to my scooter.

"What the? What's this?" He asked, looking at his hand.

I turned on the engine, "Grease."

"And how am I supposed to take this off?" he asked.

"I don't know. You figured out how to take your shirt off to a girl who doesn't have the slightest interest in looking at uhh… what's inside; so maybe you could manage to figure out how to remove those little oils on your hand." I heard Ysabel and Lia chuckle behind me.

"There's a big difference, Sam." He said, starting to remove the oil.

"Yeah, I know. A huge difference. That's why I just wanted to say something to you before I leave."

"What?"

"Good luck." And then my scooter hollered and I was driving.

"Isaac. We're so sorry. Don't worry; we'll fix things about Sam." I heard Ysabel say.

"Or we'll treat you an Ice Cream to make up for what she did. We're really sorry." I heard Lia next.

And the next thing I knew, both of them were trailing behind me. I looked at Lia, driving on her own gray scooter. She looked at me too. Both of us knew that we won't be able to hear each other so what she did to deliver her message to me was to do it in gestures. She loosened one of her grip on her scooter and pointed it at me. Then she did a straight line on her neck. To sum it all up, she told me _I'm dead. _I just shook my head in response_. _

I can't help but look back and when I did, I saw Isaac still standing there, taking off his polo shirt so he can wipe his hands on it. As I looked at him, I can't help but smile and I shook my head once more. I turned back to where I was headed and hastened up my speed so I'll have the chance to get off the images of him out of my head.

"'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.' The prince said." I told a bunch of kids as we did some story telling of Rapunzel.

"Is the prince handsome, Sam?" Lila asked. Okay, okay. They told me all their names. It's mean to not know them. And I remember Lila by her black hair that sort of reminded me of Lia.

"Certainly, Lila." I answered her. And then I saw Talisha's hand rise. _What am I? A teacher?_ She's half Black and half African.

"Yes Talisha?"

"Is Rapunzel going to marry the prince?"

"Why, I can't tell you that. I have to finish the story first."

"Okay. Finish it." She agreed with me, then sat properly on her spot.

"Rapunzel was surprised with the sight of her prince waiting; but eventually, she let down her long blonde hair so that he can go up and meet her."

"You're changing the words!" Cleo shouted.

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"My momma reads me Rapunzel every night. That's not the exact words." She said, adjusting her eyeglasses.

Before I could protest, Ryan raised his hand. "Sam, can Rapunzel be a red haired?"

"If you want her to be. But she'll stay blonde in the story." I answered him. I looked up to see if Ysabel or Lia was looking—which they were—because they always make fun of me every time I tell stories. Like they keep on asking if I was really Sam. They were snickering, alright and so I just rolled my eyes at them.

I continued reading, "The prince carefully grabbed on to Rapunzel's long hair and carefully climbed up to the tower."

"Why can't he go up sloppily?" Tony asked, his brown hair bounced as he did.

"So he won't wake up the wicked witch." Cleo answered him.

I smiled at her. The same time a large hand grabbed mine, the one resting on the side of the stool and not holding the book. I was almost off balanced as I was pulled at the side of the shelf.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked Isaac.

"Tonight. At the Cuisine's. 7:00 pm." He said quickly but straight to the point, as he was giving me a tight but gentle grip. He quickly let go after a 2 second stare as if to say, _Be there, or you'll regret it. _I got the chance to see how deep blue his eyes were and wish I could just dive in there. It was somehow covered by a part of his golden hair that had fallen on his face. Then he turned around to leave the store.

"Unbelievable. Did I just get asked out at the same time ditched?" I said to myself. Wishing they didn't, I turned to look for Lia and Ysabel to see if they saw what happened. Sadly, they did. I knew it as soon as I saw their expressions. Ysabel has her hand on her mouth and Lia was mouthing some words at me, asking me about what just happened.

"Where have you been, Sam?" Talisha asked.

"My friend just had something to tell me."

"Oh." All of them said in unison.

"Well, where were we?" I asked the children.

**CHAPTER 28**

It's already 5:00 in the afternoon and it's almost evening. We three we're at our room, me, sitting on my bed while Lia and Ysabel were both sitting on Lia's bed.

"Oh, don't tell me you're not going. You were just asked out on a date by a very hot guy. And you'll say no?" Lia reacted after I told her what happened between me and Isaac beside the shelf.

"And you expect me to say yes to the way he asked me out? By pulling me away from a bunch of kids? He Hhjfndn He did not even manage to build a sentence when he invited me! You expect me to say yes to that?" I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"Well, yes Samantha. Besides, I think I understand why he chose that way to ask you out." Ysabel said., her hands on her lap. And a part of her fine hair was clipped on one side.

"Why?" I asked her.

"Because you're so hard to get." She finally said with a grin. Lia looked at her and offered her a high five with a hysterical laugh. My mouth fell open.

"I am not." I said.

"Yes you are. Adding the fact that you hate him, and he knows that." Ysabel elaborated further.

"And the way you treat boys." Lia followed. "Sure he'll do the same thing in the second time he'll ask you out."

"And what makes you think, there'll be a second time? Or for Pete's sake, a first?" I said, hands on my hips.

"You're Sam Parker. And Sam Parker has two best friends who will not let this date pass without you going in it." Lia said.

"What date?" Grandma Lily suddenly peeped from our bedroom door.

"Sam was just asked out on a date." Ysabel teased.

"A date?" Grandma Lily said, shocked and began entering our room. She sat beside me.

"Yes, grandma. At the Cuisine's." Lia said.

"Is that true, dear?" Grandma Lily asked me. I can smell her perfume, it's a lavender scent.

"I'm afraid so. But don't worry grandma. I have no plans on going."

Grandma Lily, didn't seem to hear my answer, or she just ignored me because she went, "And who's the lucky man?"

"Isaac Serrano." Ysabel answered her.

"Oh! A Serrano, I see. But, darling I remember just last week you disliked him. I knew you two will get along soon." She said proudly

"But grandma, I told you, I don't wanna go." I said to her.

She shook her head, "Nonsense Samantha. It's rude to say no to an invitation. Not unless you have a valid reason. Do you?"

"Well yeah. I don't like the guy. As simple as that."

"Another nonsense. Samantha, you're just nervous and at the same time excited. I've known the Serrano's for so long and I happen to like them very much. My granddaughter happen to get along with Seth," At that, Lia coughed and it made me snicker. "So maybe you too, could bond with Isaac. I'm sure he's well mannered like his family."

"I am not nervous, nor excited." I said, straightening up.

"Oh yeah? Then why are you getting a S.U.L.A.?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow.

S.U.L.A.—Sweaty Upper Lip Alert. We got that from the Wild Child movie, you know, starring Emma Roberts. It's SLY's favorite movie, and we've been using the S.U.L.A. word ever since, especially when our upper lips gets sweaty. I wiped the sweat and answered Lia with, "Because it's hot."

"When is your rendezvous?" Grandma Lily asked.

_Please say tomorrow, please. Please say tomorrow. Or the next day. Please Lia. Or Ysabel._

"Tonight." Lia said. "At 7:00 pm." Ysabel followed.

_Great. Great friends. Very great._

"Tonight? Oh no! We've got to get ready! Come on, let's go!" Grandma Lily said, looking at the wall clock which says 5:30. She stood up and gestured us to stand up as well. I didn't of course.

"Where are we going, grandma?" Lia asked, about to panic.

"We're gonna give Samantha an ambush make-over." Grandma Lily said. At that, I wanted to sink on my bed and grab on to anything left to grab on. But it was too late; I was pulled out of our room and out of the house towards the garage and into Grandma Lily's Silver Audi.

"Alright, it's 5:45. We've got how much time left?" Lia asked.

"An hour and 15 minutes." Ysabel, being a math genius answered.

"We still have loads of it. Where do we go first?" Lia asked for the second time.

"Adriano's Parlor. It's right over there. They've got a great crew." Grandma Lily suggested.

"Adriano? No, no. It's too pricey. I don't even wanna have make-up. Or hair-do. I can just tie my hair up. Please stop harassing me." I begged.

"Sweetheart, we're not harassing you. In fact, we're doing you a favor. I don't care if it's expensive. You're already family." Grandma Lily said, at that, I fell silent. I was touched.

"Buona Sera, Signora Van der Woods." A lady, in her 30's, said to Grandma Lily with an accent of an Italian's. She must be very beautiful during her teenage years. She's an adult Latina, wearing her navy blue blazer and skirt. Her natural black hair, with some hint of white ones tied in a bun.

"Buona Sera, Maria." Grandma Lily greeted her back.

"What can I do for you, signora? A hair spa? Hair color? Do you want?" Maria asked, with another one of her Italian accent.

"No, no. Not for me Maria. It's for my granddaughter's friend, Samantha." Grandma Lily hesitated, and then gestured for me to step out, and I did.

Feeling uneasy, I had both of my hands in front. _Oh man, the last time I've been in a salon was when I was forced to be a flower girl in my Aunt Vivian's wedding. And that was a very very long time ago._

"Oh, che bella ragazza. " She said, clapping her hands, and folding them together. I leaned down to Ysabel to ask her what Maria said.

"She said, 'Oh, what a beautiful, girl.'" She whispered to me. What am I to do but smile? I know Italian is closely related to Spanish, but I studied French! Good thing Ysabel studied both.

"Oh! No Italian? No Italian? I'm sorry. I thought you are a descent, because of your skin color. Don't worry. Maria speaks English." Maria said, pointing at herself.

"It's okay, it's okay. No problem." I answered her. In reality, my skin's lighter than that of a Latina's, I just have a hint of their color on me.

"Shall we start?" Maria asked.

"Per favore, Maria." Grandma Lily requested.

"Si, si, signora." She said, then called for her crew. "Leonardo! Paco! Come here." Then suddenly, 2 men were beside her. One was pretty tall with a goatee and pierced ears. His hair was everywhere, but it looked good. He was holding a comb. The other one was bald and he was shorter. He has a beard.

"Miss Samantha, Leonardo will do your hair and Paco will be in charge of your make-up."

"Come on now, Miss Samantha." The tall guy, Leonardo, said to me. I walked towards them slowly. When I reached them, Leonardo suddenly touched my hair and carefully removed the tie.

"Fabulous!" he reacted as soon as my hair bounced from my back. "Like a deity, I see."

"I'm going to have a shade of brown for your eyes to compliment its outstanding emerald color and of course your skin tone." Paco said, as he examined my face.

"You're gonna be wonderful, my dear."

**CHAPTER 29**

The part I hated the most in a salon is the noise made by the blow-dryer. Really, it bugs me. I know it's used to dry up your hair, but what the heck, there's always a towel, right? What's the difference? Another point for the towel and not the blow-dryer—it keeps the money in your pocket.

"Um, excuse me Leonardo?" I asked him.

"Yes, signorina?" He said, as he continued blow-drying my hair.

"Could you lessen the power of that thing to two or one? It kinda bugs me." I requested.

"Wait, wait. Just a little more," He said, then massaged my hair a little bit more as he blow dried it. "There." And he turned it off.

I was not facing the mirror because Leonardo wanted it to be a surprise. He got some bottle of leave-on and put some on my hair especially at the ends of it. "Done! Magnefic! I did well on you, darling." I wanted to turn around and see if I still look hideous. But Leonardo stopped my chair from turning. "No, no, no. Don't turn your chair unless signore Paco's done. Paco, esso's vostro turno" he called.

"Molto bene, this will just take awhile, Signora Samantha."

I smiled in reply. He held on a small pencil to reshape my eye. That's what it's used for, according to him. What was it called again? Oh yeah, an eyeliner. Then he put on some mascara on my lashes.

"Beautiful lashes. Long and curly." He commented.

"Thank you."

Then, he had some blush on and some foundation. He started dabbing things on my cheek.

"It's cold." I told him.

"Si." He answered.

Then he got some very light lipstick and lip gloss.

"It tastes like strawberry." I said.

"Si. Now, stop moving your lips. The gloss might go to your teeth." He said. And so I did.

"Final touch?" he asked. I forced a smile. "Final touch, indeed." He held on my face gently, then look if there was something missing. "Perfecto! You are very beautiful, signora." When he let me turn my chair and face the huge mirror, my mouth fell open. This was not me. I touched my face and my hair.

"No way." I said.

"Signorina Van der Woods, Miss Samantha is ready." Maria announced, smiling. At the same time all three of them popped from behind the wall.

"Oh, my God." Lia said, as she turned around behind my chair.

"I call it dibs, dibs, dibs." Ysabel said, slowly watching my reflection in the mirror.

"Samantha, what a fantastic change." Grandma Lily next.

"Thank you." Was all I was able to say.

Seeing both of my best friends stunned and no hope for them to speak, Grandma Lily prompted to say something. "Sam, we bought you a simple dress. Your friends picked it out at the Annabelle's Boutique Shop while you're here. They said white looks very good on you. I hope you'll like it."

"A dress?" I asked, shocked. _Oh come on, my hair? A make-up? And now a dress?_ I was tormented.

Ysabel and Lia were already mindful.

"Why of course. You wouldn't go on a date wearing that." Ysabel said, one hand on her hips and the other pointing at my outfit: A pair of jeans and a simple gray tank top.

"Why not?" I asked, giving them the puppy-dog eyes.

"Because," Lia said, as she pulled me up and looked at me from the bottom to the top. "your beautiful face will not match those. It will match this." She continued, then got the medium sized white box and opened it. She held the dress out and made me see.

It was pretty. Very pretty. For a Victoria's Secret model. But not for me. Never. I swore to myself to never wear that kind of stuff and now's not the time to break that promise. "A cocktail?" I asked, hands on my hips and cocked my head. Lia brought the dress forward, so it was aligned on my body. "Yeah! We figured it will really be a new you! And the cute sparkling strap was so striking. You'll be really pretty, Sam." "How much is this?" I asked, trying to feel the dress. It was soft and very touchy. I liked it. "Oh don't ask. Don't worry; it's worth it if you try it on." Ysabel shrugged. "But I can't. It's a dress, you guys. Don't you understand? A dress!" "We know." I saw Ysabel's hands fold aligned on her chest, like she was about to pray but she was not. She's begging. With the matching, "Please, please, please." Same with Lia. "I'll kneel down if you want." Lia said, still hoping. I looked at Grandma Lily. Her hands were folded at the front. She smiled at me then nodded. _I'm gonna die. I mean seriously, a dress? _ "Oh, alright." I sighed rolling my eyes. In response, Ysabel and Lia shrieked then ran forward to hug me. "But where will I try it on?" "Oh here, here. Maria has room." Maria said, walking towards a door and opened it. "Want us to come with you?" Ysabel asked. "No. I think I can manage it." "Here." Lia handed over the dress. "Thanks." I turned around and opened the door then closed it. I turned the lights on and saw that the room was small but it has a mirror and a small sofa. _Fair enough. _I thought then looked at the dress once more. It was so pretty. It's a white chiffon with paillette Cocktail Dress. Looking at the dress was one thing, trying it on was another. It took me awhile to figure how to fit it. But I did, and by then, I looked at the mirror. The sight made my mouth fell open at first, but after awhile, I smiled. "Sam, you done yet? You still have twenty minutes before your big date!" Lia announced from outside. "I'm coming." I answered, opening the door. "Told you so!" Lia said to Ysabel, giving her a five once she saw me. "We sure did a good job, Lia. Sam, you look dazzling." Ysabel answered, giving Lia her own high five. "Bello. Molto bello." Maria sighed, clasping her hands together. "What did she say?" I whispered to Ysabel. "Lovely. Very lovely." Ysabel answered. "Very lovely, indeed." Grandma Lily nodded to both of my best friends and then she turned to Maria, Leonardo and Paco who were aligned together. "Maria, Leonardo and Paco, ringraziarla molto." She smiled. I looked at Ysabel, which meant that I was asking her what Grandma Lily just said. "Thank you very much." She mouthed at me. "Nessun problema, Signorina. Any time." Maria answered. Guess I could figure that out. "Very well, we'll be going now! I'll see you again Maria, okay?" "Si, si. Goodbye ladies. Have a nice evening, Miss Samantha." Maria said, waving her hand good bye. "Thank you. God Bless!" I answered. *** "No, no no! You're five minutes late. This can't be. He might have left by now." Ysabel said, about to panic. "Ys, chill. Sam's late, alright. But she's fashionably late. There's a big difference. That's how girls do and I'm sure Isaac knows about it too. Scratch that. He might even wait for her 'till the resto closes." Lia answered her, the same time our Audi stopped by The Cuisine's parking lot. "My granddaughter's right, Ysabel. And you, Sam will survive this date no matter what." Grandma Lily said, pulling the hand brake to a stop. I opened the backdoor and went out. I shivered when the cold breeze touched my skin. "Crap, we forgot your jacket." Lia said when she saw me shiver. "I'm okay. I'm a tough girl, right?" I answered her, forcing a smile. "Tough and pretty. You kick the crap out of this date, alright?" Ysabel said. "I'll kick the crap out of him." I answered her. Then we chuckled. "Bye and good luck." They both said to me. "Bye." I said, then waved. "Goodbye, Sam." Grandma Lily said. "Goodbye, grandma. And thank you so much for everything." She answered with a simple smile, and that's when the whole reality came rushing down on me. _I am about to go on a date. Woah._ I turned around and headed up the beautifully decorated stairs, until I reached the top and entered the huge entrance arc. "This is it." I said to myself. _ISAAC SERRANO_ CHAPTER 30

_She's not coming. She's not coming. I'm done for. I knew it. _I thought. "Why didn't I just trust my instincts? God, I'm so stupid." I whispered to myself while tapping my fingers on the table I've reserved for our date, which was obviously never going to happen. I ran my hand through my hair and continued tapping.

"Shh!" A boy sitting on the table next to me said, his pointer finger on his lips. I raised both of my hands in response, to say that I'm guilty. When he finally turned around after a long evil stare, I went back to waiting for her.

"Excuse me sir, are you ready to order?" The brunette waitress said, holding the menu and a small notebook. Her pen was on the pocket of her black blazer.

"I'm still waiting for someone. But I'll be happy if you could give me some water." I answered her, then smiled.

"Sure thing. I'll be right back." She smiled back and when she turned around, I finally saw her.

I was stunned, really. I felt the hairs on my arms and on the back of my neck rise. So when I wobbled up, and sensed that the waitress was still near, I grabbed her arm and stopped her, she did. Then I said, "Screw that. She's here. Wait for us." I saw Sam go to the Reservation Counter; I think she was asking for our table number. When the clerk said something in reply, she nodded and a man with a mustache popped out of the counter and escorted her to our table. The man was an inch taller than Sam, so I can't actually see her. I bet she couldn't see me too, but I can have a glimpse of her white dress swishing as she walked.

"Here's your table, Madame." The escort said, stepping aside for her space.

"Thank you." She said, looking at the escort. My hands shivered, when I heard her voice. Then at last, our eyes met.

She did a few blinks before she reacted. A reaction I never expected.

"No freaking way." She said, then from the angelic face awhile ago, came a vicious look that shocked the hell out of me. "I knew it. God, I knew it." She continued under her breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I..Is that Ed Hardy?" She asked gritting her teeth and pointing at my long sleeved Ed Hardy shirt rolled up to my elbows.

"Yeah. Why? What's wrong?" I asked once more.

"And a pair of cargo pants?" She asked again, gritting her teeth.

"No, it's a lovely hoop skirt," I joked but I was serious. I stretched my pants, "Yes it's a pair of cargo pants, Sam. Can't you see? Again I ask, what's wrong."

"Oh don't you dare joke around me, Isaac. I'm out." And she turned around and headed out the restaurant. I looked at her like she was crazy but after awhile I snapped out of it. I looked at the waitress and said, "Stay." Like I was training a dog. Then turned to catch up with Sam. I jogged a few paces and passed a few tables before I was able to reach her and grab her by her hand.

"Let go of me." She said, seriously and looking at me like I'm something to eat. Nevertheless, she stayed adorable even though she's angry.

"I won't, until you tell me what's up."

"Let go, or I'll give you your own taste of a headlock." She said again, trying to get away from my grip which I kept firm yet gentle.

I swallowed, but said, "I don't care if you body slam me. Just tell me what's going on."

"Look at you. Look at yourself." I did so, but I didn't get what she was saying. I looked perfectly normal. White with dark blue long sleeves, a pair of knee length cargo pants, and a pair of navy topsider shoes. This girl's high. When she saw that I was confused, "Now, look at me." She said and I followed. Sam, when she entered the restaurant looked lovely, her black hair flowing down and bouncing elegantly when she walks and the color white looks perfectly good on her. But now that she's so close, and I was touching her hand, I was bewildered. Because now, I can already see how green her eyes were, even though they were intensely staring at me. And how exquisite her face was, like she was from an Irish or an Italian decent. _Oh come on, why does this have to be so hard? Just looking at her? Man, there must be something wrong with me._

"There's nothing wrong with err… you." I said, then when I noticed that she was already calm, I let go of her hand.

"Nothing? Nothing wrong?" She almost shouted at me, "I'm wearing a garment that doesn't give the slightest clue about me, and you're wearing a shirt and a cargo pants. That's so unfair. I knew it. I knew I should have worn something me. Man, I feel so stupid." She continued.

Her answer made me laugh. Not a hysterical one of course, if I did so, she might grind me into pieces. Just a low chuckle.

"Did you just laugh at me?" Sam said, her hands on her hips.

I gave her another one of my chuckles and finally said, "Sam Parker, you're the most erratic girl I've ever met."

"Alright, that's it. I'm leaving." She said, then started toward the outside for the second time. But I still caught up with her and again grabbed her by her hand.

"No, wait. I was just kidding." Then, she turned around and looked at me. I let go of her hand and raised both of my hands up. Just like what I did earlier with the little boy. "Alright, alright. I surrender. The guy's guilty. Say, to make it up to you, you can insult me whenever and whatever you like for the whole night."

"Make it last until tomorrow." She answered me, then walked toward me again. I grinned.

I wanted to make her smile, just a little, because I think she was really bummed out by what she looked like and what I looked like and what we looked like eating together. So the next thing I did was to straighten up and imagined I had a bow tie, then fixed it. I bowed down, and said, "My lady, this way." It worked, she grinned and I grabbed her hand. I tried to kiss the back of it, sort of the gentleman, but I saw her shook her head and gave me a disgusting look.

"Just for the record, I'm the one who needs to feel little. Look at what they're all wearing." I bent down and whispered at her as we walked pass the tables whose occupants were wearing either tuxes or gowns.

She tilted her head to face me and smiled, "Don't worry, you have your imaginary bow tie to keep you company." She joked, which made me grin and straightened my body again. But after awhile, I bent down and whispered to her once more.

"And I should feel little, because I'm next to you." She tilted her head again and when I saw the crease on her forehead, I continued. "Did I mention how astonishing you look tonight?"

"Nope. Don't worry, I'm not a fan of those cheesy love —"

"Well then. Sam Parker, you look very astounding and I am honored to be your date for this evening." I said to her, as I pull her chair.

"You don't look bad yourself, Serrano." She said, punching my arm as she grinned which made my night perfectly well.

**CHAPTER 31**

The waitress really waited and I appreciated her effort for doing it. Once I sat down and I was comfortable, I checked on Sam if she was comfortable too. She was. And so, the next thing I did was to call for the waitress and asked her for the menu.

"I'll have a plate of roast beef with vegetables." I said to her, glancing at the menu.

"How about for you?" The waitress asked Sam.

"Umm, chicken with lemon sauce." She answered with a smile.

"And for your drinks?"

"Iced tea, please." I answered her.

"Coke for me."

"Sorry, we don't serve soft drinks." The waitress said with a frown. Sam's eyes grew wide but then she thought for a moment and bit her lip.

"Guess, I'll just have an iced tea as well."

"May I repeat your order? Roast beef with veggies, Lemon chicken and two iced teas?" The waitress asked. "Anything you want to add?"

"No thank you." I answered then she turned around and headed for the kitchen.

"Why are you wearing casual clothes in the first place, when you yourself invited me to this formal restaurant?" She asked as soon as the waitress was gone.

"I hate being formal." I said, "I'm not the tuxedo kind of guy."

"And they allow that?"

"That's why I love and chose The Cuisine's." I shrugged, "And besides, my mom's best friend with the manager and she's like my aunt. You know what that means."

"The boy's got the zone." She said. "Anyways, back to the real reason why we're here. Why did you invite me?"

"I just want to get to know you better."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm a bore. I mean, there's nothing worth finding out about me."

"Sure there is." I said, placing my arm on the table. "For example, Sam Parker isn't your full name right? I mean, I'm sure Sam is short for something. Like I don't know, Samuel maybe?" I joked, but she didn't find it funny.

"Samantha. It's short for Samantha." She answered with a straight face. "But if you ever call me that, I swear your headlock might come true."

"Ooo, I'm scared." I joked more. "Anyways, what else to know? Your favorite color? Hobbies? Favorite flower?"

"My favorite color's blue or green. Hobbies?" She asked, then putting her hand on her chin. "Well, I like playing sports or learning more about cars. But most of all, I guess I like hanging out with Lia and Ysabel. You wouldn't believe what my favorite is."

"What is it? Daisies? Tulips?" I asked, getting interested.

"You got nothing right." She said to me. "Roses. I apparently like roses. Any color will do, except for the black ones. You know, the super dark red."

"Roses." I repeated and looked at her dumbly. "Roses? Are you serious? Roses, known as the most romantic flower in the world that shows love and care for the one you're giving it to? That's your favorite flower?"

"Told ya, you wouldn't believe me." She winked.

"But that doesn't make sense. I mean, no offense but you seem like the girl who hates romance."

She looked at me like I was the dumbest kid in the world. "I do not hate romance." She clarified. "I just don't like it as much as other girls do."

That was the time the waitress returned for our drinks.

"Two iced teas." She said, after putting it down. "I'll be right back for your meals." She said then turned away again.

"Now, you talk. Let's save me for later." She said after taking a sip from her drink.

"Just one last question." I said. "But this is not to offend you, or anything. Doesn't it bother if others think that you're a.. you're a… a…" I stammered, looking for the right word that will not hurt her.

"Tomboy?" She said it for me. When Sam saw me nod, she just shrugged. "I don't care. I don't really care what others think of me. I'm straight anyway; they just judge me from the outside."

Her words, those words made me cough. It was just so real. I like the way she's being authentic. And when she asked what's wrong, I just made a joke out of it. "I think I just swallowed a bug."

"Now, back to you. You're being unfair knowing all those things about me and I only know a little about you."

"Okay, fine. My full name's Isaac Ezra Serrano." I raised a finger to stop her from laughing. "Don't you dare laugh on the Ezra part or I'll call you Samantha your whole stay here in Irisdale."

"Not fair. You told me I could slur you whenever I want for tonight and for tomorrow." She said to me.

"Man. Fine. Laugh all you want, I think I could use some insults for now." I said. "Anyways, I only have Abigail as my sister. My family's got a variety of wine business in Burbank City, just a few cities away and we're staying with Seth's family for the summer. I like to play sports, like you, especially soccer. And another similarity we have is that I also happen to like cars. You remember the beat up old red pickup truck?"

"The time I put grease on your hands?" She asked, "Sorry 'bout that by the way."

"It's alright. Anyways, I was test driving that pickup after a long time of fixing it with my dad. And so I happen to pass by you three and the whole thing happened." I explained.

"So, cool." She said to me, "Our driving test is not yet scheduled until September though. But I already know how. My dad taught me."

"Amazing. What about your mom? Does she know how to drive?" I asked her.

"She does. She's very good at it too. I bet she could travel from Denver to Beijing just by car." She joked, some sad expression on her face. And as soon as I saw it, I asked, "But?"

"But, she doesn't have the time for me. She's a workaholic, only has her day off during Wednesdays and the rest? She comes home very late that I got no chance to see her." There's still some glum on her face.

"And you miss her?" I asked.

"A little." She answered looking away. She looked at me and saw that one of my eyebrows was raised. "Okay fine, a lot."

And the brunette waitress popped out behind me again. Holding our meals on her hands. "Lemon chicken, and roast beef." She said, as she put down each of them. "Enjoy eating."

"Thanks for this, by the way." Sam said, before she popped a piece of chicken in her mouth.

"Anytime." I answered and had a bite on some green peas.

**CHAPTER 32**

We were silent while eating and it felt so awkward. I can hear the freaky laughs of the women in the restaurant. And every clamp that our spoon and fork makes. Until I saw her looked at me; Or should I say, pass me.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Turn around. There's a very cute baby behind you and she's laughing." I did so, but when I did, the laughing sound and the smile from the baby's face disappeared. But still kept her big brown eyes at me. She was charming.

"She stopped laughing." I said, then turned around to face Sam. And then I heard the baby's laugh and I turned around to face her again but she stopped for the second time.

"Is there something wrong with my face?" I asked Sam when I looked back at her. She was the one laughing now. But then after awhile, the baby joined her.

"No. no. She just doesn't like you." She said to me. I looked at her like she was crazy. "You don't believe me? See for yourself." She continued. The baby was still laughing. And I waited for a loud one, when it finally came, I turned around. Just like what she did before, she stopped. I looked back at Sam, then the baby laughed again. I turned back to the baby but then again, her laugh and smile disappeared.

"An evil witch trapped in an angel's body." I muttered.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, after refraining herself from laughing.

"Oh nothing." I said, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Nope. Go on."

"Did you pay that baby to stop laughing every time I face her?" I joked.

"No. Deal with it. She doesn't like you." She said. I answered with a shrug.

After awhile, I thought of another question to ask her.

"What are you afraid of?"

"What? So you could creep under my bed and scare me? I won't tell you what I fear of." She said.

"I can't." I said to her, remembering something.

"You can't what?"

"I can't creep under your bed, if I still hadn't gone up to your room. And I can't go up to your room without you letting down your hair." I teased, recalling the time I pulled her away from a bunch of kids while she was story-telling about Rapunzel.

Realizing what I meant and covered her mouth with her hand, she said, "Oh, my god. You saw that?"

"Heard it too. The ups and downs of your tone while story-telling made you sound like you're singing." I said to her, and when I saw her cover her face with her hands, I chuckled and continued with, "Don't worry. It's cute. I didn't know you were fond of children."

"Actually, I'm not." She protested, putting down her hands. "The affections just popped from my heart a few days ago."

"That's good to know." I said, then shoved a piece of roast beef in my mouth. I was half-way done.

"Cockroaches." She suddenly said under her breath.

"What?" I asked, unable to understand it.

"I'm afraid of cockroaches." She finally said.

I smiled at her, in reply, she smiled back.

"My turn to ask." She said, after drinking her iced tea.

"Shoot me."

"Who's your celebrity crush?"

"Many to mention, Sam." I answered her.

"Oh come on, just mention three." She begged.

"Well, Blake Lively's sure on the list. Then we have… hmm… Mandy Moore and Dakota Fanning." I thought. She seems satisfied by my answers than asked once more,

"Who are your previous ones?"

"Hilary Duff." I answered straight.

"And what made you lose your liking?" She asked.

"When she became thinner. I mean she's still hot, yeah but I liked her more during the Lizzie McGuire shows; she's more charming." I answered plainly.

"Agree!" She said, then gave me a high five.

"How about you? Who's your celebrity crush?" I asked her.

"I have one, but I'm not sure if he's a celebrity. He's a soccer player, though."

"Let me guess, David Beckham?" I said.

"Correct." She said, satisfied. "He's super hot, like major."

I grinned, happy to finally see her feminine side. After awhile, I was first to finish my meal a few spoons ahead of her. And I asked for the bill. I saw Sam's nervous eyes when the guy returned with our bill.

"Don't worry." I said to her, "I got this all worked up. I'll even give a tip to our sort of personal waitress." Then smiled.

She relaxed later on. After I paid our dinner at The Cuisine's, I escorted her out the restaurant.

"Why are you being such a gentleman right now?" She asked, as we walked down the stairs.

"No wonder, you'll ask that. Well mainly because I'm not actually half the man you thought I was. You know the seductive vain type you always thought about. That's not me."

She smiled and said, "Fine, I believe you."

I led her to the car we'll be using—A silver Honda Civic and saw her eyes gleam. I turned for her door but she shook her head. "No, I can open my own door. Thank you, though."

"Sure." And I turned back to the driver's seat. I got in and fastened my seatbelt.

"Are you ready?" I asked and she nodded.

_SAMANTHA PARKER_

**CHAPTER 33**

The lights were already on, and the stars add some beauty in the evening. It wasn't that dark as Isaac drove me home.

"You still haven't told me what scares you." I said to him.

"Oh, right." He said. I saw his perfectly white teeth in spite of the slight darkness when he smiled, "Besides you," he teased, which made me roll my eyes. "I fear… don't laugh." He begged.

"I'll try my best."

"I fear…" He said, then mumbled the last word. I heard something about… goats?

"You're afraid of goats?" I chuckled.

"What? Who said anything about goats?" He laughed. "I said ghosts."

I tried not to laugh. Really. I tried. "You believe those?"

"I told you not to laugh." He said to me.

"And I told you I'll try not to." I answered, and then sighed, "Cool."

He laughed once more and then looked out his window. After awhile, he turned the car to the side of the road and we stopped.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed mine off too. "Is something wrong with the car?" I asked again.

"Get out." He demanded. I did so too, nervous. Then he followed, opening his door and putting both of his arms on the hood of the car, then he smiled. "There's nothing wrong with the car. But there will be some slight changes though." He explained.

"Like what?" I asked.

He grinned. "You'll be the one behind the wheels." He finally said.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, shocked.

"Nope, you yourself said you know how to. And the moment I saw you look at the car, I knew then that you really want to drive it. And besides, you look like someone I can depend on." He shrugged.

"But I don't have any license." I said, worried.

"I do." He said, showing me his license card.

"But if we get caught…" I paused, imagining the whole scene.

"We'll switch back." He shrugged again.

"Then you'll be the one to blame. I can't do it."

"Guess I could use some experience, eh?" He smiled. "Now, switch places with me."

I frowned but when I saw the smile at Isaac's face and the assurance in it, I grinned; because that confidence was for me. That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. When we met around the car, that's the time I felt that I couldn't risk someone's reputation to do what I like. "Isaac, I can't. It's the law we're talking about here."

He grab hold of my shoulders, chuckled and said, "I told you, you look like someone I can depend on. I know you wouldn't do anything foolish."

I nodded, "I guess it's worth a try." And I continued for the driver's seat. I opened the door and got in. I fastened my seatbelt.

"You ready?" Isaac asked.

"I'm not sure."

"You can do it, Sam." He encouraged. "Think of it as a test drive. It's fun."

"A test drive. Phew. Okay." And I turned the keys to start the car. I adjusted the gear shift lever to D and we began moving.

Moments passed and I said to myself that I'm doing great, until Isaac said.

"Umm, Sorry to say this Sam. But that snail over there?" He asked, pointing to the small snail in front, lightened by the headlights of our car. "Is apparently ahead of us."

"Sorry, I'm freakin' nervous."

"We'll still survive after a few steps on the gas pedal."

"Okay." I said, and I was relaxed. The car went smoothly now. I was driving like I already passed my driving exam even though it's a few months away. The trees were like swooshing and the lights went blur.

"You're doing great." Isaac said.

"No police cars behind?" I asked.

"No police cars behind." He assured me.

Isaac's phone rang, but when he checked out who it was, he clicked ignore. His phone rang for another 2 times when I asked, "Aren't you going to answer that?"

"No. It's just some crazy friend."

There are no cars on the road right now, only us. I bet they're all watching Lake Clarus. I turned right to the Golden Bridge Street. Isaac turned to me and said.

"I've got news for you, Sam." He said.

"Good or bad?"

"Both." He answered. "What do you want first?"

"The good one." I answered.

"Okay, well the good news is that there are still no police cars trailing behind." He said, which made me smile.

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news?" He nodded at Grandma Lily's place. "Our date will end soon."

As soon as I stopped the car in front the house, Isaac walked to the front door. Another of those cold breezes touched my skin as we walked.

"I really feel bad about not bringing any jacket. I'm sorry. You're so cold." He said as we walked along the pathway.

"I told you, I'm fine." I said, rubbing my arm. "And for the record, you didn't receive that much insult tonight."

"I realized that too." He answered, "Maybe because I did well for this date? That I didn't disappoint you?"

"Yes. You behaved for tonight, I suppose." I said, when we reached the porch steps.

"Well, this is it. The bad news." He said before he sighed.

"Goodnight, Isaac." I held out my hand.

He looked at it skeptically. "Don't worry. There's no grease on it this time." I assured him as I climbed up one stair and was an inch taller than him. And he finally grab hold of it.

"Goodnight to you too, Sam. It's been great. Maybe we should do it again sometime. It's very nice knowing you." He said.

I really want to thank him for the ride. So I did what I did next. I leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. A gesture I seldom do only to those who really made me happy. When I leaned back, I saw his eyes grow wide. "Thank you for everything. I had a blast." I finally said, then followed by a smile, I climbed up further up the porch and opened the entrance door to the house. I turned on the living room lights to find two of my best friends, sitting beside each other on the couch.

"Oh, Christ!" I said, gasping for air, as soon as I saw them. "You scared the hell out of me!" I cried.

"Tell us all about it." Ysabel said, rising up and walking towards me.

"Every single detail." Lia followed.

And by then I knew they wouldn't leave me alone. I knew that they would keep me awake even though my eyes are already dropping just to make me tell them the whole story. His reaction on this, his reaction on that. The one thing that I don't get is that I actually do want to tell them.

**CHAPTER 34**

Days have passed since our big date, and Isaac and I have been in good terms ever since. Well, not actually good terms, good terms. I mean, I still threaten him every now and then. But other than that, we're good. He took me to the movies, we ate ice cream, and he let me meet his soccer friends Carter, Paul, Aaron and the others. We played sports like volleyball with Seth, Lia and Ysabel, one time Isaac invited Nate too and Ysabel was so bummed. But it turned out he was really good. But the most frequent thing he does is that he visits me every day at work and helps me read stories to the kids. I remember the first time he tried it, it was so hilarious.

"Want me to help?" He asked, leaning beside the bookshelf as he watched me read.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching your sister?" I asked, eyeing him.

"You're already doing it for me." He said, nodding at Gail who's at the back row of the children. Gail waved at me, "Hi, Miss Sam." She whispered. I waved back, and smiled.

"Guess I could use a little assistance," I said. "What do you want to do?"

"Can I read with you?"

"You sure? These children are really quirky, ya know?"

"I think I can handle quirky." He grinned then started to bring a stool up next to me.

"Okay kids! What book would you like to read next?" Isaac asked. I saw Gail's reaction and laughed. She slapped her hand on her forehead and shook her head with a giggle, laughing at her brother.

"I'm alright; you could do your other jobs." He whispered to me.

"I'll just fix some books on the shelves." I whispered to him and he nodded. I stood up and went for the bookshelf across.

Isaac did well in reading the Little Red Riding Hood at the beginning, but as he went on, I heard the children start asking questions.

"Why can't it be Little Blue Riding Hood?" Tony asked.

Isaac looked at me nervously; I turned to him and gave him the you-can-do-it look. He returned back to the kids and said, "Because the writer likes the color Red." All the kids were satisfied by his answer but Gail wasn't, I know she was too smart for that. She chuckled loudly at her own brother again.

But Isaac ignored her and continued reading, "Red's mother told her to bring a basket of bread for her grandmother and check if she was still dead."

"What?" The children shouted with a trembling voice, like they were about to cry.

"Oh! Sorry!" Isaac said to them, panicking and taking a closer look at what was written. "Crap, I thought that was dead."

I went forward to help, "Kids, kids. Mr. Isaac just misread the word. He meant 'in bed.' Red's grandmother never dies in the story, right Cleo?" I asked her, knowing that her mother reads her every fairytale book present in the world every night. And she actually memorizes it all!

"Right." She agreed confidently. "My mom reads that book to me every night too." Told ya.

"Sorry." Isaac whispered beside me.

"It's alright; you're doing great by the way." I joked, then patted his head and turned for the shelves again.

"When Red was headed to her grandmother's house, the Wolf found a shortcut and beat her to it." He said.

"When the wolf finally got to the house," As I fixed the books, I saw the blonde dude who frequently visited the Bookstore since last Monday. He's alright at first because he was just an ordinary customer. The suspicious thing is that he never actually went to the teen's section even though he looks like he's about our age; he just goes to Ysabel's Section. I guess he just wanted to buy his older relative a book or maybe he just like classics. Or maybe he was hitting on Ys. Ah, perfect! As I was examining the blonde guy, I've noticed that Isaac was actually looking at me while reading. "he thought that it was very wonderful. Very, very wonderful. So wonderful that he named it the most wonderful thing in the world."

"We get it, okay?" Talisha said to him, getting irritated. "It's wonderful."

"Oh, sorry." He said and then turned back to the book. Gail turned to me and winked. I can't help but let the blood fill my cheeks.

As for the entire story-telling, Isaac continued making up his answers to the children's question. I find it bad, though; because I didn't know if his answers were really correct. But in the second thought, those children will soon grow up and learn that wolves do not really having the voice box to actually talk and scare little girls who wear red hoods.

I woke up at 7:00 A.M in the morning because of the blazing heat that made my whole body melt. It was like Mr. Sun was actually IN our room. Ysabel and Lia felt this too because I saw them wake up, sweating.

"I'd rather be dumped in a large garbage can than to ever sweat like this again." Ysabel said getting a towel and wiped the sweat from her face, then she tied her hair in a perfect bun. "This is so gross."

"Man, this is torture! What have we done wrong to deserve this temperature?" I grunted.

"Oh jeez, why does it have to be this hot?" Lia groaned, standing up. "I need to walk, so I can feel some air in my cheeks and live."

"I'll come with you." Ysabel volunteered.

"Me too." I said.

When we reached the first floor, still in our P.J.'s and fluffy animal slippers we went directly to the kitchen to give Grandma Lily our Good Mornings.

"It's so hot girls, would you like to go for a swim?" Grandma Lily asked.

"But Aqua Lagoon will not yet open until 10:00 A.M., Grandma. That means we'll still have 3 more hours of pain and agony."

"Oh, yes I forgot." Grandma Lily said, hands on her hips then shook her head. "You could go to the backyard and use the hose. Do you want that?"

"Oh, my gosh grandma. You're the best! I can't believe we never thought of that!" Lia said, jumping off from her chair and ran for the room.

_DING DONG! _

"I'll get it!" Lia shouted, when she still hadn't reached the stairs. She twirled before she got to the door. Ysabel and I sat in the living room to watch Star Movies and that was when I heard Lia open the door.

**CHAPTER 35**

"I'm in love at first sight with your bunnies." I heard Seth's voice say, followed by a chuckle, which made me turn my head and peep behind the couch. Ysabel did the same. He was, I saw, was referring to Lia's bunny slippers.

"Go away." Lia said grouchily. "What a perfect way to start my morning. What are you even doing here?"

"Don't blame me, you hothead. You think it's perfect for me?" He asked. "I thought someone else would open the door."

I heard Lia sigh and I saw her put her hands on her hips, "Just answer my question, Hades."

"The prince is looking for his princess." Seth finally said; he nodded at me at the word princess. He was wearing red board shorts and a thin linen white shirt. Then I saw Isaac pop out from behind him, in a very low V-neck navy hoody that made my cheeks burn. As soon as he saw me, he waved and smiled.

"And you come along to destroy the moment." Lia said to Seth and before Seth could answer, she turned to Isaac and said, "Hi Isaac. Wait a second, I'll call her for you." And then she looked at me and gestured for me to go there. Ysabel nudged me.

"What?" I asked.

"Go! He's calling you!" She whispered then looked at me from top to bottom. "Woops! In second thought, stay. You really need a fashion police right now."

"It's okay. I'll go. There's nothing wrong with my P.J's right?"

"You sure? It's your guy you're gonna face."

"I'm sure." I smiled at her then stood up. My hair was in a ponytail now. I walked towards them.

"What's up?" I asked when I reached them.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you're free—"

"Miss Saaaaaam!" Abigail shouted, after she closed the door of the Honda Civic and ran towards us, her arms stretched, for an embrace. When she reached us, I knelt down so she could give me one. She was like an angel! Her skin was soft and warm and I want to cuddle her more. Her hair was worn down with a ribbon clip on the side, so it showed how further golden it is. There were also a few big curls at the bottom. She was wearing a small floral Sunday dress— the quirky garden fabric on the bright green background will sure brighten anyone's day especially when you see Gail's smile.

"Gail, I told you to stay in the car." Isaac said to her gently but with a tone.

"I just wanted to say hi to Miss Sam." She answered with her cute little voice. I smiled at her, then turned to face Isaac.

"What is it, you were saying awhile ago?" I asked him, while Lia was distracting Abigail.

"I was just asking if—"

"You would like to go for a swim." Abigail said it for him.

"What?". So, that was what the board shorts are all about. "Where?"

"Klein Lake. It's gonna be fun. Lia and Ysabel can come too."

"A resort? With the pool and stuff?" I asked.

"No. A mini lake. With cool, fresh water and stuff." He grinned. "Klein's Dutch for little, if you're wondering where the name came from. It's not from a dude whose last name's Klein."

"Interesting."

"So… are you coming?" He asked.

"Absolutely." Lia said, ignoring what I have to say and I heard Ysabel gasp. I pulled both of them out of the crowd and whispered to Lia. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"What? The guy's inviting us to a free lake! No charges and very cool water."

"Oh yeah? What about the hose shower at the backyard? What will Grandma say about that?" I said to her.

"Isn't she the one who suggested that we should go swimming at the first place?" Alright, she got me there.

"Then what about Ysabel, Lia. You know how she is with water. She can't swim."

"Oh. Right. I'm so sorry I forgot about that, Ys." Lia said to Ysabel.

"It's okay. I wouldn't spoil your fun time, maybe I'll just go sun bathing."

"No, no. We can't." Lia said, shaking her head. "If you're not going, we're not going."

"Oh, nonsense. Stop all that drama. We all go. I'll just have my feet soaked. That's what I always do, go to the shallow the rest, I'll just sun bathe or maybe I could baby sit Abigail."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive." Ysabel nodded. We turned around and headed towards Isaac, Seth and Abigail.

"We're in."

**CHAPTER 36**

"I'm sure you will love Klein Lake, Miss Sam." Gail said, turning around to look at me while seated on her brothers' lap at the front passenger's seat. "And you'll be the first one to see my bathing suit."

"Gail, don't be naughty. Seth can't see the side mirror." Isaac told her.

"Sorry." Gail muttered, turning back.

"She's so cute!" Lia whispered, squeezing my hand. I smiled.

"Oh it's alright little cuz, I can see the side mirror very clear here." Seth said, behind the wheels. "If only there was greater space at the _back_; you could have sit there next to your Miss Sam."He continued. I'm sure he's targeting Lia.

"Don't start with me, Serrano." Lia said, sensing it too.

"Which one?" Seth answered, still teasing, knowing there are actually 3 Serrano's in the car.

Instead of replying, Lia just muttered something about him being the son of Satan which made me and Ysabel laugh softly.

"We're here!" Seth announced, parking under the shady big tree. "We should walk from here. It's just a few steps anyway."

Seth got his backpack and walked ahead. "Show off." Lia muttered behind me.

"I heard that!" Seth shouted up front.

"Glad you did!" Lia shouted back.

The lake was very calm looking. I mean, there was its clear water, so clear that you could already see some lake stones under it. Then there were a bunch of white oak trees across us, on the other side of the lake.

"Lovely, eh?" Isaac suddenly asked beside me which made me jump a little.

"Very." I answered.

"Hey 'cuz! Check this out!" Seth shouted a few steps ahead. Isaac ran to see what it is. As soon as Seth saw this, he said. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Dude, are you high?" Isaac asked, putting his hand on his cousin's shoulder. The look on his face was confused and skeptical. I looked to see what it was, and saw huge logs floating steadily on the lake shore.

"Do you have to ask?" Lia joked.

Seth ignored her, "Log war, dude!"

Isaac's eyes grew wider; he looked from the log to Seth. Then he raised his hand for a high five. "Awesome thinking, man."

"I know that game!" Ysabel shouted.

"Me too!" Lia seconded her, "I used to see teenagers play that when I stayed here. I wanted to play but my dad didn't allow me because he said I was too young. I'd be happy to try it now." She grinned.

"Log war? I've never heard of it." I said to them.

"I thought you're in to sports, Sam. Why is that so?" Seth said.

"Log war is not a sport, dummy." Lia corrected him.

"It's okay, Lia." I said to her and then turned to all of them. "You guys teach me then."

"Glad to." Ysabel said. "It's simple. It's like wrestling but you're standing on top of the log. So that means you have to balance yourself especially when the log rolls. You push each other and the first one to fall to the water, loses. Therefore, the last man standing wins." She grinned.

"You mean the log floats on the water?" I asked.

"Yeahp!"

"But Ys? It's water. That means you, you can't…"

"Play?" She asked. "It's alright. I can baby sit Gail for you guys." She smiled.

I looked at Gail who looked at Ysabel with concern. And then suddenly her eyes gleamed and she said, "I know! I know! We could be the referees!"

"Good thinking, sister." Isaac said to her.

"Then, let the game begin!" Seth shouted, then he headed for the logs.

Girls vs. girls and guys vs. guys. That's the first thing to happen and so I have to fight my best friend which I hated the most. But it's just a game so we really don't care. Isaac and Seth were obviously eager to fight each other, though. At the end of the first match, I won against Lia and Isaac one his side. Lia was the first one to fall into the water, which made Seth lose his focus while battling his cousin because he looked down to see if Lia was fine. When he saw Lia's head popped out from the water and her hair sticking out everywhere, he laughed hysterically which made a good deal for Isaac because he just pushed Seth just like that on the water. When Seth's head finally appeared, Lia was the one who started laughing. Seth, with a curse look on his face directly to his cousin, tapped the water hard to show his frustration. Isaac replied with a laugh, a shrug and a "Sorry, man. Gotta do what I gotta do."

"L-O-S-E-R, who's the loser? You are!" Lia sang, with the tone and gestures of a real cheerleader.

"At least, I don't look like Medusa." Seth grinned.

Lia's mouth dropped open, her cheeks turned red and she started fixing her hair down. All of us laughed.

"Okay, the losers and the winners match now!" Ysabel shouted after awhile.

"Let the logs roll!" Gail shouted, which meant, "Let's start the game."

Battling Isaac was a bit hard. Well, not because he's strong or anything—all though he is—I mean, it's hard because I was actually distracted. First because it was just my first time and its okay with Lia because I mean she's a girl but Isaac's a guy, specifically, a guy who I'm obviously attracted to. And second, there he goes again with his shirtless charisma—which I'm sure he did not do for a distraction this time, though that was what's happening to me, I was distracted. But they should be shirtless and we should be in our swimsuits. Even Seth is shirtless too, still, I don't know if Lia feels the same way I feel. I mean Seth has the heart-melting-body-type-gene that Isaac seemed to also share.

_Jeez, Sam. What's wrong with you? Concentrate. Don't look at his body; look at his face, so you won't get distracted. _I said to myself. I did look at Isaac's face that time, but that made things even worse. He was looking at me too! I can see how ocean blue his eyes were—which made me want to dive in there than in the lake water itself—because the sun was somewhat shining over half of his face which also made his hair look more golden and shiny, slightly covering his forehead which made him appear mysterious. By then, I feel like I was going to fall from my log in any second. He was slightly crouched, sort of balancing on his own log. And then he suddenly reached out to push me but I was too fast to avoid his hand. And my log seemed to bear with me because it didn't roll too much.

"Good one, Sam." Isaac grinned, returning back to his position.

"I could do better." I grinned back, feeling the nervousness on my voice. "If I win, then you'll admit that girls could be better than guys?

"If you win." He grinned some more. "May I repeat? If."

I just rolled my eyes at him. Then he continued talking, "But you know, Sam. You're not bad for a beginner. I mean battling for first and second place already? Not bad."

"Battling for first you mean." I said, and tried to push him too but he avoided it easily and chuckled.

"You look cute when you're gritty." He teased.

"Stop that." I sneered.

"Stop what?" He acted shockingly.

"What you're doing."

"Fine." He said, plainly. "But just so you know there's a cockroach lingering on your log right now."

**CHAPTER 37**

Well, you could clearly guess what happened next. I mean, he said cockroach. He said it very clear. Cock-roach. And when it comes to those little icky brown creatures, I basically believe anything. Yeah, that was an evil joke. I shouldn't have told him my weakness at the first place. So, instead of ignoring his strategic style, I just went "Ahhh!" and my log seemed to follow my reaction because it suddenly rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled. Then after that many rolls? It rolled its last and finally I lost my balance and fell into the water. Yeah. I lost.

The water was cold but I liked it, it's like our swimming pool back in my school in Denver. I wanted to stay there a little bit more. But I have to swim up soon 'cause I know my breath wouldn't last that long. As soon as I swam up and my head appeared on the water's surface, I saw that I was in front of Isaac's log. He lowered his body and grinned at me. "Sorry, gotta do what I gotta do"

I smiled at him angelically and then splashed him some water which made him lose his balance and he also fell. I laughed hysterically then said, "Sorry, gotta do what I gotta do." After awhile when my laughing ended with a few pants, I glanced around, looking for him. But all I saw was clear water. _Crap. _I started panicking when he's nowhere to be found. I swam in the water and looked for him too, but I can't see him anywhere. The next thing I did was to go up and push his log away, all the other logs too. Because Lia and Seth seemed to have finished their battle as well, but I'm not sure who won. I was too busy thinking where Isaac is!

"Isaac?" I asked, trying to push the water away, which is a stupid thing to do because obviously I was surrounded by it. "Isaac, don't kid around. Where are you?"

Then suddenly, my ankle was grabbed by well, a hand. Which I'm sure was Isaac's and it was! But before I knew, as a reflex action to the ankle-holding, I shrieked. You would shriek too you know. My hands went everywhere, the same time Isaac's face appeared behind me. His hair was wet, but still golden because of the sun and his eyes were gleaming blue. But I was too mad to be hypnotized—at least that's what Abigail used as a term—by his looks.

"You're seriously dead, you know that?" I snarled at him.

He chuckled. "I'm not dead. No…I'm touched." He said putting his hand on his chest. "It's quite a glee in the heart that the worry you were feeling earlier was for me."

My mouth fell open but after awhile I had the chance to talk, "I-was-not-worried." I said, spattering every single word at him with gritting teeth.

"Oh, you were. Even underwater, I can see your face clearly. And trust me; I saw the anxiety in those." He said, gesturing to my eyes.

"Ugh." I said, tired of this conversation because even when you turn the whole world upside down, he'll always be right. Right, because it's true, I was worried. But not now. Surely not now, because now I'm furious. So the next thing I did was to put both of my hands on his head and pushed him down the water, then I turned my back and swam faster, away from him and towards my friends.

"Hey, Sam! I was kidding. Wait up!" I heard him shout, when he got up, but I didn't stop. I just kept on swimming away.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Ysabel asked, seeing my face when I swam out of the water. I walked to get my towel that was hung by the branch of the tree.

"What did my brother do to you, Miss Sam?" Gail asked, playing with the water.

"Ask him." I said, pointing to Isaac who was just about to get away from the water too and who apparently has a smug look on his face. I wiped my face with the towel, so that I couldn't see it anymore.

"What did you do to Miss Sam, Isaac?" Gail demanded, standing up. She looked cute standing in front of her brother with hands on her hips. She was the same height as Isaac's knee!

Isaac looked down, "Whoa, whoa. Chill sister. Relax. I didn't do anything. I swear." He laughed.

"You sure?" Gail asked once more with her little cute voice. Her eyebrow rose.

"Positive." Isaac grinned.

"Well then Miss Sam," She said, walking toward me, and then she grabbed my hand. "My brother says he's innocent." And then she pulled me towards him.

"No Gail, wait. I have to hang—" I tried to reason out.

"No." She said with a serious tone and her eyebrows furrowed. Seeing this, I sighed and said, "Never mind."

Gail smiled sweetly again and continued tugging me to Isaac, when we reached him, she grabbed his hand and then made mine hold his. "There!" She said. "Now you two are friends again." I looked at Ysabel with a I-thought-you-were-supposed-to-babysit-her look. She mouthed a 'sorry' and laughed. We shook each other's hands and then put it down.

Then suddenly, Lia appeared out of nowhere. Which reminded me, "Hey Lia, who won?"

"I did!" Lia and Seth shouted in unison. Seth came out from the car.

Ysabel heard this and laughed. "Lia won, Sam."

"You go girl!" I said to her. Lia grinned and then stuck her tongue out at Seth.

"We should eat first." He grinned, then held out his hand with a picnic basket.

"You brought food?" Lia asked, shocked.

"Only tuna rolls and chicken sandwiches and some drinks."

"You really planned for this, haven't you?" Lia asked.

"Kinda. I don't know. Ha-ha. 'Cause I think if you three didn't come along, Isaac and I could finish a meal for 5 just by ourselves. And then Gail has one for her own."

"You're crazy."

"I know. Okay," Isaac said, after putting down the basket. He clapped his hands twice. "Let's eat up! I'm starving."

The tuna rolls were amazing. I asked who made them and Seth answered that he made it himself, which Lia obviously didn't believe. The chicken sandwich was delicious too! And our beverages were orange juices so that made our meal even better. Ysabel tried to feed Gail and we all shared some funny jokes. And then we had cheers for me and Isaac who won the first and second places. After eating, we all helped one another in cleaning our eating place. Later, Gail wanted to go swim again, and by that, she meant splashing some water on the lake shore, which is okay for Ysabel 'cause it's not too deep. Lia came with them too. What I did was to stand there near the tree looking at the beauty of the lake and the trees across. And feel the breeze brush my cheek and slightly move my hair. When suddenly, I heard a twig snap behind me and sensed that there's a person there. I then knew who it was even without looking.

"This will be your last sneak up on me. I tell you. Your last." I said to him, still not looking.

I heard him laugh, "Okay, okay. You caught me." He said, suddenly standing beside me. "You know, I'm really proud of you winning the second place."

"Don't rub it on my face that you got the first, Isaac."

"I'm not rubbing anything." He said, "I'm telling the truth."

"Yeah, right."

"Fine, think whatever. But if you ask, I had already admit that girls could be better than guys at times."

"Seriously?" I turned to face him.

"Uh-huh. When you kicked my butt at soccer." He said, "You proved it to me, Sam."

"Did I?" I said, then turned to face the view again. "Cool. Ha-ha."

"Yeah, I know." He said, and then he suddenly grabbed my pinky with his.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Does it imply to you that every time I do something that makes you nervous, you'll ask what am I doing?" He asked. "Can't you see? I'm holding your pinky with mine. Considering that you might punch me if I grab hold of your whole hand."

"You just did earlier."

"No. That was a shake. And Abigail made us do that, that's why I'm safe from your punch. This time, it's only me." He grinned.

I was about to protest when I heard someone whistle a teasing tune beside the tree.

"Seth, get lost." Isaac told him, giving him a swear look.

"And that's how you give thanks to your noble cousin who drove you all the way down here, packed up all the food and accepted his defeat?" He put his hand on his chest to show that he's hurt then shook his head and continued, "How harsh."

"Fine. Thanks." Isaac said plainly. "And I did help in packing the food, you know."

"Better." He said. "Well, I guess I'll go murder myself and join the ladies."

"Then you die with happiness." Isaac told him, glancing at Lia who's having a nice time with Gail.

He followed Isaac's gaze. "Charming Isaac. Very charming." He said ironically. Then he turned around and headed toward them. I laughed and shook my head. And then I remembered our pinkies.

"So what makes you think, that I wouldn't punch you just by holding my pinky right now?" I asked him as soon as his attention was turned back on me.

"You wouldn't." He repeated.

"Why do you say so?"

"'Cause you still hadn't let go."

**CHAPTER 38**

"He looks nice, doesn't he?" I told Ysabel referring to Isaac who was reading a book for the kids, while she was sorting some books on the Adult's Section.

"Absolutely! He interacts with kids very well. I envy you for having your own personal assistant. I wish I had one too." She said to me. "Hey, Sam could you reach my ponytail? It's right over there by the other shelf."

I looked to where she was pointing and snatched the black ponytail and gave it to her. "Here."

"Thank you." She smiled and started tying her hair.

Unexpectedly, I saw the blonde dude who kept on visiting Ysabel's section, leaning against the third shelf away from ours reading a book. And seeing Ysabel's back turned away from him, I had to ask, "Say, Ys. Who's the blond dude who comes over here very often for a costumer?"

"Who? There are lots, Sam. You need to be more specific."

"You know what I mean, the blonde guy, tall and with somewhat nice features."

"Oh! That. He's just a regular costumer." Ysabel shrugged.

"A regular customer? Yeah right. You mean a customer who regularly visits your section."

"Sam. I'm telling the truth. I don't even know his name. We did one talk though, when he asked me where he can find Macbeth."

"You mean the one of Shakespeare's?"

"Yes." And then her eyes gleamed and her cheeks turned scarlet. Right there, I saw, she actually has a crush on him. So I gave her the smuggest look I could ever make.

"You're blushing 'cause you like him." I teased.

"Oh, shut up. Just go help your lover boy over there. So that you'd have something to do." Ysabel said to me.

"Whatever you say, Ys. Whatever you say." I said with a smug, jumping from my stool and standing up. "Oh, and by the way, he's just standing over by the next shelf." I grinned. Ysabel's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped. She covered it with her hand, the same time that her cheeks turned scarlet. And then she secretly glanced to see if the Mr. Blondie was really there. I just shook my head and laughed.

I walked towards my section to help Isaac, when suddenly the door chimes tingled and the door opened.

"Yo, Sam!" I heard Carter say, he raised his hand for a high five. I slapped my hand to it.

"Hi, Carter." I said, with a smile. "I never knew you're into books. Ha-ha."

"Well, I'm not." He laughed. "I'm here for Isaac. We're supposed to have a game today. He promised."

"Oh, yes. I forgot. He told me that earlier." I said, "Hey, I'm sorry he hasn't been around you guys that much anymore. I told him to spend time with you but he always say that you would understand."

"Sure we do." He smiled. "But we just miss some competition sometimes though. Isaac's the best one out there. But not until you came along." He joked and gave me a soft nudge, I chuckled. "And we miss our friend too. Ha-ha. Is it alright if we borrow him for now?"

"Of course you can! Just a sec," I said, then turned to Cleo who was just about to get back to the kids crowd from her mom's call. "Hey, Cleo. Would you mind calling Mr. Isaac for me?"

"Sure thing!" Then she ran towards the Kid's Section.

"Kids." I said, then shook my head.

Carter laughed with me, but after awhile, he went, "So how's life kickin' with you two?"

"Who? Isaac and me?" I asked, "Well, it's going pretty great. I still punch him every now and then. And he's starting to get a hang of it, so I need some new styles of torture. Ha-ha." I joked then laughed.

He laughed with me, "I knew you two would be perfect for each other." He laughed once more. "Isaac was right about that bet."

Then suddenly my heart pumped faster and all the laughing stopped. _What bet? _"What are you talking about?" The smile on my face was surely gone, now.

Carter's eyes, I saw was confused at first and then suddenly there was shock. "You..you..still don't know? Dammit. I..I..assumed you knew." Carter stammered. "I..I..thought Isaac already told you about it. I mean, the last time we saw each other, you two seem so happy. Stupid Carter. Stupid, stupid, stupid." He said, slapping his hand to his forehead softly at every "stupid" word.

"Carter, what are you saying? What are you talking about?" I demanded. You know what I was feeling? It was like I was punched in the gut a million times.

"Hey you guys! What's up?" Isaac suddenly jumped behind me.

I ignored him, "Carter." I said with a serious tone.

"He..he should tell you." Carter answered me. Then he faced Isaac. "Isaac. I'm so so sorry, dude. I didn't know. I screwed up. I thought you already told her."

"Told her what?" Isaac asked, starting to get alarmed. "Sam, are you alright?"

"Let's talk outside." And then I looked at Carter. "Carter, you story tell to the kids. At least you owe me that much for not saying anything." I managed to say, and without waiting for Carter's reply, I removed my apron uniform and gave it to him with a slight push. That's when I stormed out the bookstore.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Isaac called out.

"Listen Isaac, I don't wanna get mad at you, really." I tried to say, "But if you could just say to me what Carter was talking about back there? If it's true…"

"What was he talking about? What did he say to you?"

"It's about…" I stopped, wetting my lips and getting myself ready at how much this is going to hurt. "a bet."

"Oh, God." Was what he said. Then he ran his hand through his hair. His other hand was balled into a fist.

I shut my eyes closed. "So, I'm guessing its true then." I concluded; stopping the tears of my eyes from falling. _I was officially part of a bet. _I opened my eyes and said to him, "Please don't give me those 'I can explain stuff'. 'Cause I think I can't take it. I thought I could but it turns out I couldn't."

"Sam…" He tried to say.

"And umm... Please tell Nate, Ysabel and Lia that I have to go home. 'Cause I suddenly don't feel well."

"Sam…" He tried to say once more.

I wanted to punch him in the shoulder, to yell at him, to step on his foot, to flick my finger on his forehead to make him eat his own words. But how can I? That's what I do to him every day. That's how I show that I care for him. That's how I show that well… I love him. And he knows that. But now, I don't know. I don't feel anything.

I walked towards my scooter and he tried to follow me. "Sam…please. You don't understand, you need to here my explanation. But first, I want you to know that I'm really, really sorry. "

A tear started to fall and I wiped it away fast, followed by a few sniffles. I hate crying. Ugh.

"Sorry." I scoffed. "That word really irritates me, you know." I turned to face him. "Okay, so you said it. Happy?"

"Sam, just let me explain."

"If I let you, will it change anything?" I asked then looked at him directly in the eyes. I saw a gleam but later there was fear. He was speechless. I smiled even though it was hard to do, "I'm glad you know the answer." And I turned around.

"Sam…please." He called.

When I got to my scooter I put my hand on the seat. "You wanna hear something funny?" I turned to face him. "You're the closest thing to real I've seen." I finally said to him, stopping the other tears from falling. "So close that you actually made me believe that you are one."

That's when I saw his eyes close. "Sam…" he said, then put a hand on my scooter. He looked down, shook his head then looked at me again. "Just one hit… your hardest. I'll take it. No matter how hard it is. I'll take it. I deserve it."

I smiled at him and then I sighed, "You don't." Then a tear started to fall again, but this time, it fell so fast that I didn't get the chance to wipe it. So he saw it. Saw it fell on his hand.

I climbed up, put my helmet on and started the engine but Isaac's grip went tighter.

"I promise Sam, I'll explain. I'll explain and everything will be alright again."

That's the time I cried, really cried; with the sniffles and coughs and stuff. But I got away from his grip before the coughs and sniffles happened. And I was driving. Once again, feeling the breeze on my cheek, the tears from my eyes streaming down my face and once again, trying to remove the images of him from my head. Just like old times… only now, it's different.


	2. Part Two Y

**Page ****19 of 19 ecjr**

_PART TWO: YSABEL STRYDER_

**CHAPTER 39**

We wished that the door would not creek too loud, enough to wake her up, so Lia opened it as carefully and as slowly as she could. And I assured that the hot chocolates would not spill from the tray I'm holding.—I don't really get the idea why Lia asked me to be the one to carry it; she knows that I'm much clumsier than her. In fact, I'm the clumsiest of the three of us!—It was silent when we entered the room. The white curtains were blown away by the gust of wind outside. But even though the window is open, and it was with every joy outdoors, it still remained gloomy in the room. It's like our colorful beds became dull because of the aura created by our best friend even though she's asleep.

"We shouldn't wake her up." I whispered to Lia.

"No. She needs us." Lia whispered back. "I can't bear not to hug her."

I understood Lia; I can't also bear not to hug Sam. She does need us. I looked at her, still asleep and then I noticed that she was not on her bed. She was at mine.

"Lia, she's at my bed." Lia looked at her and whispered, "Aww Sam! He really hurt her didn't he?" Then, she started towards her.

I put the tray of hot chocos on the table and tagged along behind Lia. After awhile, we couldn't take it any longer that we hugged her. Sam moaned with eyes still closed. She turned to face us before she opened them; and I noticed that they were still a bit puffy. I pulled down the covers so I could see her face better and said, "You can sleep here as long as you want."

Her eyes widened, and then she sat up, scratching them. "What are you guys doing here?" she asked, shocked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"You should be too." Lia answered her, "But we heard you're sick."

"Oh, yeah," She said, looking like she just remembered something."I'm sick." Then she balled her hand into a fist, brought it closer to her mouth and she coughed, which was obviously a fake one. I chuckled. Sam's always like that; she never wants us to worry.

"Sam. Cut that out. No need to pretend." I said to her, "We already know. We know everything. Well… not everything exactly. But we know enough." I smiled then put my hand on her knee, which was still covered with the comforters.

"Enough to beg for Nate to call our shifts and ask them to exchange shifts with us. We'll continue our work this Saturday." Lia continued for me.

"Just this week though. We're still the weekday girls." I smiled again and asked, "Sam… are you alright?"

Lia looked at her. "Sorry we're not by your side earlier, Sam."

Unexpectedly, Sam looked at me then at Lia and back at me again. After awhile, she started laughing. LAUGHING.

"What's so funny?"

"You guys! I can never imagine my life without you two. You're so sweet. Whaddya mean you're sorry? There's nothing to be sorry about! What you did? Ditch work for me? That's off the hook." She said to us. "C'mere." She grinned, gesturing us to come closer for a one small group hug. "You two are the best, best friends ever." She whispered.

After awhile, I stood up and went to the table to get the tray. "Here, have some hot chocos; although I'm not sure if it's still hot."

They giggled. "But I'm sure it's still delicious. Grandma Lily made it, eh?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. She was supposed to bring it to you, but we offered to do it." Lia smiled.

As Sam, took a sip, both Lia and I looked at her. She was still every bit as pretty as she was before; with the exception of the slight puffy face. She seemed to notice it because she went, "You two are starting to creep me out."

"Sorry." We both said in unison.

"By the way, umm. Who told you what happened?" Sam asked.

"You would not want to hear." I said, imagining what'll happen if she only hears his name.

But I was wrong; Sam just smiled and went, "No. It's fine. Ha-ha. I've already got rid of all my tears before you two got here. I think I could handle myself for now. And besides, I'm the one who told him to tell you that I have to go home. I just didn't expect him to tell you everything, though."

"Well…just like what I told you earlier, he didn't actually tell us everything." I confessed, which made Lia chuckle.

"You know Ysabel. She exaggerates." Lia said, laughing. "This was actually what happened. Ysabel was at her section, and I was at mine. And then while I was talking to a customer, I saw Isaac coming over. Saw his face, so dull and full of misery. I swear, like his eyes which were happy sapphire as always, became lifeless blue. I even made a joke at him."

I shot her a look and she went, "Hey, I didn't know what was going on. I didn't mean to hurt him."

"Just go on." Sam said.

"So yeah, what I said was 'Hey Isaac, got in a fight with Samantha?' I swear, I didn't know that I just hit the point right there. I was just trying to make him smile! But when I saw that he didn't laugh with me, my heart started to beat faster. I don't know why, but I suddenly became tense. So when he asked me if it's alright if we could talk, I gestured Ysabel to come along with us."

I was the one to continue, "When he told us that you were sick, I actually didn't believe him because you and I just talked before you left. And you seem really blissful and alive. I mean really. You even said to me that Isaac looks delightful while he was reading to the kids. Remember?" I explained. Sam nodded.

"So when we asked him what's really going on, he just shook his head and said that he did something that hurt you pretty bad. But he didn't tell us what it was. He looked really serious and sincere, I mean really. In the end, he just told us that you really need someone by your side and we top the list. And that…" Lia stopped, looked down and smiled.

"And what?" Sam asked.

I looked down, too. I can't help not to laugh. I mean, even though they had a serious fight which I'm not so certain of what the root is; what Isaac said, was a bit cheesy but still remained sweet.

"And what?" Sam's tone was eager.

"He told us that he'll do anything to get you back." Lia blurted out.

"Oh," Sam said, then she looked down but did not laugh nor smile. She just bit her lip slightly.

"Okay, I give up. Now's the time to tell us what's the root of all these." Lia sighed.

Sam's head was still down when she spoke. "It turns out… I'm just part of a stupid bet."

My mouth fell slightly open, I tried to cover it with my hand but I was too stunned to do anything. That was really upsetting and I wondered how I would've handled it if that happened to me. I mean Sam's the toughest of us three but she cried.

What's more distressing was to know who did it. I mean, Isaac? I know Isaac's more than that. He wouldn't do that to her, would he? I mean he likes her or might've even been love.

"Oh, gosh." I uttered.

"I would go there," Lia said, standing up as she paced back and forth in front of the bed. "I'll go there and show him whose boss. No one messes with my friend like that."

Sam just smiled and chuckled, I can't believe she managed to do that. Smile and chuckle, I mean. "Lia, you don't have to. He's not worth any of our time."

"Jeez, Samantha!" Lia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Stop being a tough girl, right now."

"I'm not." Sam answered her with a shrug. "But I mean he's already hurt by being guilty. We shouldn't bother hurting him more."

"Hurt? Him? You're the one who's hurt Sam. He hurt you!" I said, "What he did was unacceptable."

"Yeah, but—"Sam tried to say.

"No more buts, we have to teach that guy a lesson. And once I knew if Seth has something to do with this, I'll shave both their heads off. Literally. I swear." Lia said, about to leave the room, "Ys, come on." But Sam grabbed both our wrists before we had the chance to leave.

"You guys, you are overreacting. Really, you don't have to. " Sam tried to explain. "The only solution here is to just forget it."

"Forget it? Sam, you're kidding right? I mean there's only a peanut sized chance that you two won't meet or bump in to each other every day. So, when exactly will the forgetting thing happen?" Lia, asked in a smart tone, "Right—never."

"Then I'll treasure those days; even though the chance is a size of a peanut." Sam grinned.

"Sam, now's not the right time to joke around. Things are pretty serious here." I said to her.

"I'm not fooling around." Sam chuckled. And then later, she sighed, "Guys, I really appreciate what you're doing here. It's just that this is our problem. It's our choice if we'll fix it or not. You two don't have to deal with it. "

"Your problem is S.L.Y's problem, Sam." Lia said.

"Yes, of course. Lia's correct." I seconded her.

Sam sighed once more, "Guys. Just do it for me. Just forget about it. Please?" Then she stared at both of us with eyes pleading for approval. "Please?"

Lia looked at me; I can't read her expression though. Then she turned back to Sam, she rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, alright!"

All of a sudden, Grandma Lily's head popped from behind the door and announced that dinner's ready; which made Lia twirl for the door and said, "Let's eat!"

When she was gone, Sam and I were stuck dumbfounded on the bed, staring at the entrance door of our room, where Lia just stood.

"She's not giving up, is she?" Sam asked.

"No, she won't." I answered her while standing up. "And neither will I." I grinned. But before Sam could protest, I was at the door. "This is what you get for having 2 best friends who really loves you." I grinned once more and I was out, running downstairs towards the dining room.

**CHAPTER 40**

…_Hair, in a short bob cut, still honey blonde like now. Eyes still light blue as the skies and cheeks turned the slightest scarlet as I came out of our Red Toyota Van that was driven by my mom. I was still six by then, as I ran across our front yard,—which was covered by natural green grass—arms extended ready to give him a tight hug. He was wearing his Seaman's uniform—white with some badges of recognition—and his Seaman's cap—white and bordered by black and gold. I saw his hair, all brownish and in a clean cut; and his only dimple on the left cheek. Although his eyes, which was where I got the color of mine from; had a slight change of blue to grey and the other way around. I guess it was because of his age or just because of the lighting. But I don't really care, because this was my dad. This was really him. And I was hugging him really tight like I promised to myself if I ever had the chance to see him again. I said to him, "I've missed you, Daddy." He hugged me back tightly too, like he never wanted to let go as he whispered in my ear, "I'm always here, princess. Always here." He pulled away and searched for a pocket on his left chest then out came a small thing—a piece of wood that's shaped like the letter Y. "For Ysabel," he said as he gave it to me, he was wearing the sweetest smile I've ever seen. Only then, I knew that that was the last smile he could ever give me. "My Ysabel."…_

I woke up crying. Only tears, though. I didn't sniffle or cough, just tears kept on streaming down my face. So I stood up, wiped the tears away and looked at the wall clock that says, 2 AM in the morning. Ugh. Dreams. I walked over my drawer, opened it, and got the Y wood that was given by my father. I sat at my bedside, near the slightly opened window, and looked at the wood. It gotten a little old looking though, but still maintained the Y shape. My dad said he made it from an old, broken helm of the ship he's been working at. I sighed, "Oh Dad, I wish you were here."

_Plunk! _

I heard something from the window. But I ignored it and thought it was just some insect that bumped into the glass. I continued looking at the Y wood. Dad did well on the cutting, I thought.

_Plunk!_

The plunk went louder; alright, a larger insect.

_Plunk! Plunk! _

Fine, 2 large insects. I thought… Oh, crap. How can I be so stupid? Rain! Just rain; rain which is about to start. It's more reasonable than bumping insects. Yeah, it's sure is rain. I thought deeper.

"Ysabel!" I heard a whisper from the outside. Alright, I'll admit, I almost screamed when I heard that someone call my name. But I thought of my two best friends who were maybe having the best dreams of their lives! And if I scream, I'll ruin it all. So I stayed calm and just peeped outside.

"Ysabel!" He sighed, "Finally!"

I was bewildered. I mean really, he had the nerve to show himself and particularly at 2 o' clock in the morning!

**CHAPTER 41**

"What in Pete's name are you doing here, Isaac Serrano?" I whispered back opening the window wider.

"Come down. We need to talk, bring Lia too." He said to me.

"What?" I was so irritated. He demands me to go down there? So discourteous of a man! "How dare you order me to go down? After what you did to my best friend? Did you hit your head? Or are you just plain mad? I will not go down and I have nothing more to say to you." I said to him, referring my voice to go above volume and began closing the window.

"No, no, no! Don't close the window!" He begged. "Just hear me, will you?"

"What's more to hear, then?" I asked him.

"If you go down, everything will be much easier; especially with Lia coming along." Isaac whispered.

"Yes, of course. How smart of you to know that I can't beat you up on my own."

"Please. I know how much you want to wipe my face out right now, but just hear me out. It's for Sam. She needs to know what really happened." He said.

"If you are telling the truth, then why are you talking to me and not Sam?"

"Sam will know. But she'll know it in a very special way. That's why I need you and Lia to come down here and I'll explain further." Isaac whispered.

I wanted to believe him. But part of me says, to not. I mean, he did hurt Sam a lot. But he says that she needs to know what really happened, so that means there's still something we still don't know. But what if he just made it all up? Gah. There's only one way to find out, I need Lia.

And so, the next thing I did was to walk toward Lia's bed and assured that Sam won't wake up.

I poked Lia's shoulder. "Lia." I whispered. "Lia, wake up."

Lia moaned, "Mmm…mom?"

"No. It's Ysabel. Wake up. Isaac's waiting for us outside. He says he wants a talk."

"What? Isaac?" Her voice, still a bit hoarse. "What time is it?"

"2:15 a.m."

"What the?" She almost shouted.

"SHHHHH!" I tried to hush her.

The two of us went as still as a statue when Sam suddenly moaned. But we relaxed when she continued sleeping. "Sam's not supposed to know anything about this."

"Hurry!" I whispered. Lia brushed her hair a bit and fixed her pajamas.

We told Isaac that we'll meet him in front of the house. We covered the pillows with the comforters so if Sam wakes up, she'll think that we're still asleep. The light stayed off but the 2 lamps we're on as we sneaked out of our room and tiptoed downstairs towards the front door. We finally reached the entrance door and opened it cautiously. And we're out!

"You're dead meat." Lia said to him, striding closer.

"Lia, just let me explain." Isaac said, backing a little.

"Why are you guys all the same? Treating girls like games?" Lia asked him. "She's our best friend, Isaac. You break her heart, we break your face."

"Ysabel, now's the time to say something." Isaac suggested.

"Lia, stop it. Isaac said that there are still certain things we don't know. Let's just give him the chance."

"He doesn't deserve any. It's Sam he hurt!" Lia said.

"Everybody deserves a second chance, Lia. I know that's what they all say, but it's true. Isaac deserves his."

Lia looked at me like I was crazy, but she turned to Isaac eventually and said, "Alright Serrano, you have 1 minute to explain yourself. And if your cousin has something to do with this…Oh you don't want to hear what's going to happen."

Isaac chuckled. "Don't worry Lia, Seth's innocent. But I explained everything to him earlier and he said he's happy to join in."

"50 seconds."

"Okay, first of all. The bet you all know about, never actually happened." Isaac said, straight to the point. His words made my head spin. What? First there's a bet, and now there isn't? This sure is getting in Teen Mag.

"What are you saying? No bet?" Lia said it for me.

"At first there was. It happened the second time I met Sam. We were playing soccer in the field just around the corner—me, Carter and our other soccer friends. We're all doing great; my team was leading and I was the last one to score a goal. Then suddenly Sam appeared out of nowhere, I didn't actually recognize her at first I mean we just met the day before, but I thought to myself that she looks pretty familiar. And then she started saying stuff that she can do a better goal with a better move than mine and she did. I was beaten by a girl in front of my peers and I was so bummed out. So when she's gone, my friends started to tease me. Then Carter was all, "That girl is way out of your league man, and I'm sure she's completely hard to get." And I was like, "And you're saying?" and he answered with "That you should go for her". And I was like "No way." And that's where the whole bet came in."

"What was it about?" I asked.

"If I take her out on just one date, just one; Carter will be my slave for one whole week." I raised an eyebrow, Isaac saw this and shrugged. "He was very confident that he offered himself." upshot

"You're crazy. I can't believe you did that." Lia gritted her teeth. "That's so immature of you, Isaac."

"That's why I stopped it before it gotten any worse." He looked down, "My first little attempts to ask her out we're all part of the bet. But I don't understand why the right words just wouldn't come out from my stupid mouth when I go for her. Usually, I go smooth with girls." And then he looked back at us. "But I don't know, it's different with Sam. She's very far from my ideal girl and yet she had me head over heels for her. During the following tries, I've noticed that I was more eager to ask her out because I was getting interested in her. Then, all of a sudden, this one certain morning, I woke up and realized that I like her; that I need to ask her out not because I have to, but because I want to. Just me—no Carters, no slaves and no bets. That same day was when we had our first official date which started roughly but ended with me, at home, lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, smiling."

Usually, when we hear or see these kinds of stuff, Lia and I are the ones who'll shriek because of the sweetness and romanticism. Sam would just nod and say, "Mmm." So actually now, by what Isaac said, both Lia and I tried our best to not lose control of ourselves. But I know then, that my cheeks were burning, so I released it through a long soft sigh. Lia released it differently—through a cough. A very obvious fake one, I might add.

"Hrmm..Hemmm..Hrmm. Umm, when did the bet actually end?" Lia tried to ask.

"Before our date. In the morning, at lunch and while I was driving to the Cuisine's, I called Carter but he's phone's always out. So I just tried to leave a message. I told him to call off the bet. During the date, that's the time he started calling me but I just ignored it because I was having the best time of my life and I didn't want anyone to ruin it. Then, when I got home, that's when I answered Carter's call and learned that he was sorry he didn't answer any of my calls because his phone was dead the whole day and he can't find its charger until that time. When we talked about cancelling the bet, he was like, "Are you sure? I mean, you won. Offering me as a prize does not usually happen." And I told him that I was positively sure and that, that night was enough of a prize for me."

Lia and I stared at him like he was the last person on earth.

"Are you telling the truth, Isaac?" Lia finally asked.

"I am. I swear by the river of Styx." He assured us. Lia looked confused.

"In Greek Mythology, when you swear by the river of Styx, you can never ever break it. And if you do, you'll sure be punished." I explained to her. But the look of confusion remained on her face. So I explained it at the simplest possible way I can; "It's like a pinky swear of the Greek gods."

Lia was like, "Oh." And then she turned to Isaac. "Don't think that you just amazed me with those Styx thingies. Good thing I have Ysabel to explain it to me. Well… I'm not Greek. My promising techniques just revolves around a pinky swear, a simple "I promise" or a spit handshake. In simple terms, I still don't believe you." Lia said, crossing her arms on her chest.

I laughed softly, then later asked. "You sure what you're saying is not bogus, Isaac?"

"If it is, then why would I bother coming here at 2 o' clock in the morning, risking my own life from two girls who could actually kill me on the spot?" he joked. We all chuckled.

"So are you in on the plan, then?" He asked.

Lia and I paused for a second, "We don't actually know."

"Look, if you still don't believe me, I understand. It's my fault in the first place. But I need your help to clear things up with Sam. She needs to know the truth. I really love your friend. And if she will still not forgive me after seeing what we've prepared for her…it's alright. I just need to explain and tell her what I really feel and hope she'll understand someday."

We examined him further, his looks and actions. Yup, he looks sincere. "Fine." Lia said.

"We're in." I seconded her.

**CHAPTER 42**

I love the smell of misty mornings. It's like I can feel the nature's aura within me; especially when I hear the chirps of every bird and see the dews on every leaf and the clouds already forming different shapes. It's the break of day but the sun still hasn't gone way up. I got up early because I was in charge of buying the materials needed for the preparation. On the other hand, Lia's in charge of distracting Sam, since that's not my expertise.

I wore my light gray thick-strapped sleeveless and partnered it with my denim shorts and gray flats. Then, I also put on a gray artist's hat.

When I got to the garage, I first walked my scooter out a few meters away from the house before I started the engine so that nobody would know I left. Lia told me the direction to the 2 places I need to go to. She told me it was nearer then the Irisdale Square, and it was.

When I got there, I parked my scooter beside the 3 bikes on the side of the shop. It was a costume shop. I don't understand why Isaac wants me to go to a costume shop. He just gave me a piece of paper and said, "Give this to Bob." And I was like, "Who's Bob?" Then he sighed in frustration, "The clerk. Give this to him. He'll know what to do. He knows me. Tell him that I sent you. But don't be shocked, he's very good in disguising to his costumers. It's umm… his way of upholding his store." _Weird._ I thought. The wind chimes pealed as I entered the shop.

"Excuse me?" I asked. No one answered. "Is anyone here?" The room was filled with different costumes from superheroes to fairytale characters. There were also different masks displayed by the counter. A woman, maybe in her 40's, suddenly appeared right in front of me. She was an inch shorter and was pretty much high in width. Her eyes were droopy. In fact her whole face was somewhat like that of a Beagle's. No offense. But I still found her adorable. Her hair was brownish-black, that did not exceed down her shoulders and she had a full bangs. She had a big buttoned blouse on and colorful trousers.

I looked at her for a moment, and eventually I took my chances and asked in a squeaky tone, "Bob?"

She looked at me lousily. "I'm Bob's PA." She sighed. "If you want to see him, come with me."

If Lia was with me, surely she's laughing her socks off by now. "I'm really sorry." I apologized as we walked, "I didn't mean to be rude by referring to you as Bob. It's just that a friend told me that he's good in disguises. And so I thought that…may…be…" I trailed off, seeing that this conversation is leading nowhere. "I'm really sorry, miss." I repeated.

"No worries, dear." She finally answered, that calmed my nerves. "It happens every time. Wait here." She gestured me to sit down on the wooden chair by the counter. And she entered to a room, which I think would be the shop's so called storage room. After awhile, a man came out, and I was certain that this was already Bob. He was an inch shorter than me too; a bit round and has a goatee. He looks like one of those bandana-wearing men in motorcycles with large cobra tattoos on their arms who always wanted a taste of upheaval.

"Good morning." I greeted.

"It's not a good of a morning to me, mate." He answered me, "Because I always have Martha"—he said referring to the woman earlier.—"to see first thing in the morning."

"I heard that!" Martha shouted from the storage room.

"Just kidding, love!" he answered her. Then he turned back to me. "Not kidding." He said. I laughed. It appears that they're a couple. Aww, they look adorable.

"I'm a hound dog today, mate." He gave me one of his old man smiles. "Do I look like John Travolta from The Hound Dogs?" He asked.

"I can see." I answered back. "You look much handsome, Bob."

"Ahh. Compliments sure brighten anyone's day. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of being a pirate." He added his hand under his chin. "What do you think?"

I smiled, "Pirate's good."

"Oh, baloney! I'm being so rude for keeping you waiting. What can I do for you?" He asked.

I chuckled, "Well actually, Isaac sent me." I said to him. "He told me to give this to you and that you'll know what to do with it." I said, handing him the piece of paper.

He got it from my hand, opened it and read what's inside. He nodded a few times and eventually said, "Ahh. My Serrano boy." He chuckled. "I'm sure I have all of these."

"Do you know how much it will cost?"

"Let's see, 5 mini costumes, and a personalized mask?" He said, then put his hand under his chin. He laughed and said, "Just kidding, mate. Tell him it's free if he'll tell me who the girl is. I can sense that my Serrano boy is in love. And no secret of him can pass me." I was a bit bewildered. I mean, come on—free stuff doesn't usually come knocking on your door every now and then. I thought for a moment that I should tell him about Samantha but I thought to let Isaac handle it. Bob somehow knows Isaac in one way or another.

I smiled. "I will surely tell him."

"And what will the name of my lovely messenger be?" He asked with a sore old man's voice.

"Ysabel. My name's Ysabel." I answered him with another of my smiles.

"Ahh. Ysabel. Lovely."

"Is it okay if I'll come by to pick it up in 15? I'll just be doing some other errands."

"Oh, no problem, mate. Thanks for dropping by. It'll be ready before you know it. And punch my Isaac boy for me, will you? I haven't seen him in awhile now." He grinned.

"I sure will." I said to him as I headed for the door. "Have a nice day! Bye."

The Crimson Droplet was the name of the second shop. As I entered, the scent was fantastic. There were different perfumes, air fresheners and scented candles. But there's only one thing I'm after here. It wasn't hard to find because it has the largest shelf compared to the rest. I glanced through each of its colors. And it was lovely, very lovely.

"Excuse me miss, how may I help you?" A woman, with strawberry blonde hair asked me. She was pretty, not that far from my age; maybe 19 or 20, if I estimated correctly.

"I need to have the purest red of these. And for the rest, I'll have one for each color."

"Come along miss, we've got a whole bunch for you." The saleslady said, as she walked on a nearby closet. "It just arrived yesterday, still fresh." She continued. As she opened the huge pink closet, I saw that she was right. There were a bunch of boxes in there.

"Fantastic! That's good. I'll have one of each, please." I said, satisfied.

"Of course." She answered. "Would you like some black ones, miss?"

I looked at the list Isaac gave me. There was definitely a black one. It was underlined twice! But from what I know, Sam dislikes this color. What in Pete's name is Isaac up to? "Yes please, thank you."

After awhile, I followed the saleslady to the counter. Jeez, no one even told me that this store offers huge boxes to keep their items! Yet, I didn't even care. Not until I saw the saleslady bring the 2 boxes out.

"Umm, excuse me?" I tried to say. "Don't you have any smaller ones?"

The saleslady smiled and said, "This is the smallest one, Miss."

My eyes grew wide as I heard what she said; the two boxes can already cover my upper limb! "You call that small?"

"They will die without enough space. Crimson Droplet's known for huge packaging but our products are of the best quality." She answered me.

I nodded in response. She pushed the two boxes a little toward me and smiled again. "Thank you for purchasing at Crimson Droplet. Please come again and have a nice day."

"Same with you." I answered her, as I got the boxes. I tried to force a smile to dissemble my anxiety at the size of it. Although I'm not actually sure if she saw it.

After the Crimson Droplet, I went back to the costume shop and got the things from Bob.

"Is this all of it?" I asked, getting the two medium sized paper bags.

"Yes. I believe that's all of it. Do you want some assistance from my Martha, mate?" He asked, as he led me out.

"No. no. I'm fine. Thank you very much though. You really helped a lot."

"Oh, no worries mate."

"Tell Martha I'm still sorry about earlier." I requested.

"Why so?" Then he cocked his head. And after awhile laughed. "You thought I was her, didn't you mate?"

"Guilty." I shrugged.

"Ha-ha. That thing just doesn't last. Don't worry; my Martha is a hell of a tough woman. That wouldn't upset her." He laughed once more. Aww, he sounded like a Santa Clause giving me his Ho-ho-ho's—so adorable. Only, he looked like a Santa Clause who's ready to rock n' roll.

After a few more chuckles, I finally bid my last good bye and headed around the corner for my scooter. Seeing the two huge boxes on my scooter was very, very disturbing. I looked at the two paper bags I'm holding. How would I ever drive with these? Oh come on. But I thought of a plan that would make things easier. I got my cell, dialed his number and after a few rings, he finally answered.

"At last!" I exhaled.

"Ysabel?" Isaac asked.

"Yeahp, it's me. I need your help. It turns out that the Crimson Droplet's packaging is fitted for a person, not a flower. And if I pile up all of these on my scooter, it'll fit. It will surely fit. But without me. If only paper bags and boxes could drive, I would not be calling you by now." I said to him. I know, I know. I was being mean, considering the fact that I've been asking for a favor. But we're still trying to see if he was really sincere about all of these.

"Okay, okay. I'll come by pick you up in 5. Where are you, anyway?"

"At the side of Bob's Costume Shop. Oh yeah, bring the pick-up truck."

"Sure. Wait for me." He answered and hang-up.

I hung up too, then leaned back at my scooter and sighed. My arms crossed on my chest and my head down.

"Looks like you've got a load there." Someone said. It startled me that I almost stumbled. I looked up and that's when I really lost my balance. It was him! The Shakespeare guy! "Woah, there. Sorry to startle you." He apologized.

"You…you didn't." I said, dumbly. He grinned and I almost melted. He was wearing a turquoise V-neck, paired with white cargo pants and a low cut Converse. His dirty blonde bangs on the side of his face.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He said, as he got closer. _You do! _I wanted to say badly. But I can't! A cat got my tongue.

"I surely can't forget that face." He further said, putting his hand under his chin. Yeah. Yeah. I took his words as a compliment which pitifully made me blush. "Oh! Now I remember. You're the book girl! From the book store Nate's been working at."

Nate. _Nate. Nathaniel. _Why does the sound of his name burn my ears? And now, that name comes out from the lips of the one I infatuate on? I am cursed. Jeez. "I think that would be technically correct." I gave my response with a sigh.

"And what is this beautiful maiden doing outside the streets alone?" He asked, curiously.

"Doing some errands." I answered. He nodded, putting his hand down. Seeing that the situation was being awkward, he turned to the mountain piled on my scooter. "Like I said, you had a lot of things right there. Would you allow me to offer you some help? I have a car parked right there." He offered, pointing at the gold High Lander just a few feet away.

"No. I think I would be alright. A friend is picking up. And he'll surely be at the corner by now." I predicted. "But thanks though."

"A friend eh? Good, good. At least I know you're not going home alone with all of these." He smiled. But somehow, I saw a bit of rejection in his eyes. Yet, I ignored it, thinking it was something else. "My name's Pierre by the way. Pierre Montague." He grinned.

"Nice meeting you. I'm—"

BEEEP! BEEEP! The horns from the pick-up roared. I turned to look at Isaac who was waving at me across the parking lot. I closed my eyes shut, to relieve my irritation of his bad-timing. Then I looked back at Pierre.

"Looks like the prince is ready to fetch his damsel in distress." He commented, nodding at Isaac, who was beginning to go down from the pickup.

"Oh no. He's just a friend." I denied.

"Guess I'll see you around then?" He asked, backing down towards the other direction.

"Sure." I sighed. "I'll see you around."

He gave me his last sweet smile and started to walk the other direction, the same time Isaac was already inches away.

"Who was that?" He asked, as he helped me unload the things from the scooter and into the pickup.

"Why do you always have to spoil the moment?" I asked, irritably.

"What? What did I do?" He asked, shocked. "You're the one who called me. It's not my fault a suitor will be coming around you every 5 minutes."

"He's not my suitor." I said, through my gritting teeth. "Alright. Topic off. We have to get busy; unless you're not that serious about any of these."

"I am serious, Ysabel. About all of it. Sam would surely love what we've done for her."

"Yeah, yeah. Enough talking and start moving. It's gonna be tomorrow, Saturday. Make Sam feel as happy as ever."

"She will. I promise you, she will." He assured me.

"Prove it." I challenged him. "Tomorrow."

**CHAPTER 43**

Saturday, a weekend = fun! NOT.

"Lia, stop it." I hissed at her because of the smug looks she keeps on giving me, while we're at the bookstore. Alright here's the thing, remember the time we have to beg Nate to call our shifts so that we could go home for Sam? The "we" thing didn't actually happen because I was the one who begged him to do it—even though it is against my will, I mean that kind of thing don't usually happen between us. "Talk" for us circles around 2 meanings that are entirely different from what "talk" really means. It's either I ask him if there's any stock of books available or communicating without a sound; but I had to do it because of Sam, I was really worried about her. And because of that, Lia kept on teasing me all day.

"Next time, I'll pretend to be sick and go home too." She joked.

"How many times do I have to tell you to bring it to a close?" I said to her, glancing around my section. "And besides, I like someone else."

"What?" She asked, "Who?"

"You don't know him, so don't bother." I answered.

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, sorry. I forgot that _you're the one who lived in here Illinois for two consecutive years so maybe you know more people here than I do._ Once again, my sincere apologies." She answered me. She was obviously referring to herself. That's when it hit me. HERSELF. LIA. Lia! She lived here for a few years so maybe Lia knows something about him!

"Pierre Montague." I said.

"Hot name." She commented. "Describe him."

"Well, he's…he's… ugh! I can't. He's too perfect." I sighed.

"Ysabel. Please stop infatuating. I need specific details than 'perfect'."

"He's in average height, dirty blonde hair, a bit buff, his eyes… well. I'm not actually sure, since I haven't looked at them directly. But I presumed its grey."

"Average height, check. Blonde and buff dude, check check. Grey eyes, check. Look out, your prince charming is here." She actually said. I didn't believe her. I mean there are many guys that could actually fit my description. Not until I turned around and saw him. Yeah, he's right there. That's when my blood rose to my cheeks. He smiled.

"Morning, book girl." He greeted, as he walked pass by me and Lia.

Lia nudged me and gave me a smug look. "BOOK GIRL? So you two call names now?" She whispered, when Pierre was away.

"SHHHH!" I hushed her. "Lia, not now."

"When then?" Lia asked. "Come on! I don't know him. But I know someone who does!" She said, tugging my arm.

"What? I still have work to—"

"Come on!" She tugged harder and I was forced to come with her. She brought us to Nate. Nate. I sighed and shook my head.

"Morning, Nate!" Lia said with glee.

"You seem quite in high spirits today, Lia. Why so?" He asked, looking up from his computer.

"Ysabel wants to ask you something." She blurted out. Nate looked at me. My eyes grew wide and I shook my head.

"No I don't! You're the one who dragged me here!" I whispered at her

"Go on, don't be shy." She pushed me.

"Yes?" Nate asked. I looked down and muttered the words, "Do you know Pierre Montague?"

I didn't hear any response so I looked at him. His face was skeptical and looked like he was about to laugh. I knew it. I knew it! This was all bogus.

"Ugh. It's just a waste of time. Come on Lia." I rolled my eyes. And tried to turn around.

"Ys, hear him out." Lia whispered.

"Wait! I didn't even understand what you just said. You talk too fast." He chuckled.

"So you're asking me to repeat it?"

"I'm asking you to repeat it slowly." He answered with a few chuckles.

I was annoyed. So I spurt out every word at him with gritting teeth. "Do. You. Know. Pierre. Montague."

"Pierre?" He asked. I don't know but I saw a hint of shock and worry in his face then it all disappeared quickly. "What about him?"

"Do you know him?"

"He's a friend."

"A friend? That's all?"

"Then, what else do you want to know?" He asked, plainly. Looking like he didn't want to prolong our conversation.

"I don't know. If he's a nice person?" I asked further.

"I am not to judge a person's nature. But I can say that he is nice." He studied my face for a second and continued, "Don't you still have work to do, Ysabel?"

I tell you, Nathaniel St. Claire is very hard to read. I tried to guess what he meant. Then I decided to snap out of it. "Yes. I have work to do. Thank you, though."

"Mmmm." He answered, and turned to his computer.

"Did you understand what he said?" Lia asked, as we walked away.

"No." I answered her. "But I'm trying to."

"Alright. Enough of that. We still have Sam to worry about." She reminded me, looking at Sam who was busy reading a book to the kids.

"You're right. It's this afternoon. I really hope Isaac put up something great. To be honest, I really like them both as a couple." I confessed.

"Dibs on that. I mean, who doesn't?" Lia shrugged.

Then suddenly, the door chimes pealed as someone entered the Bookstore. It was Isaac. Lia and I quickly pulled him away before Sam could see her.

"What the hell are you doing, Serrano?" Lia hissed. "You know you're not supposed to see her until this afternoon. What if she sees you?"

Isaac just chuckled. "Chill, Lia. Sam and I are not getting married. And besides, I need some inspiration for later." He said, glancing at Sam behind the bookshelves. "You remember what you're gonna do, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Lia and I answered in unison.

"The kids' clothes are at my house right? I'll be the one to pick them up here, their parents already know?"

"Yeah." I answered him.

"Wish me luck." He grinned, as he headed for the door.

When Isaac was out, Lia asked, "What are we gonna do?" I just chuckled and shook my head.

"Okay kids, Gail's brother will pick you up later. Don't forget okay? Wait for him, understood?" I asked the children, while Lia was distracting Sam a few feet away.

"Yes." All of the kids shouted in their tiny voices.

"But remember what we've talked about. Don't spill our little secret to Sam, alright? It's a surprise for her."

"Yes." They repeated.

I smiled, looking at my watch. It's already 3:00 pm. End of our shifts! So let's get the part started.

**CHAPTER 44**

We have to go home to make Sam think that this is just any other ordinary afternoon. But we still don't know how to convince her to put a blindfold on. So I thought of a very smart way that Sam wouldn't deny on.

Well, since Grandma Lily is the coolest Grandma in the world, and is apparently part of our escapade, she volunteered to be the one to convince Sam to put a blindfold on; Sam couldn't deny on that. It's Grandma Lily!

They were both sitting on the couch, when we saw them and I don't know how Grandma Lily did it but she did a very excellent job. Sam was already blindfolded plus I don't hear any nagging!

"You ready girls?" She asked.

"Ready for what? Where are we going anyway?" Sam asked her then when she heard our footsteps she went, "You guys! Do you know where we're going? Grandma Lily said she has a surprise for us." She said excitedy. "Oh yeah! Grab hold of the handle and be careful! You might fall down the stairs. You're blindfolded too, right?"

Lia and I were cynical. Us? Blindfolds? What did Grandma Lily say to Sam? Then, when Grandma Lily saw the confusion on our faces, she went, "Oh dear Ysabel and Lia, here, let me help you go down."

When she got closer, that's when she told us the story she made up. "Just go with the flow, ladies. I told her that I'll be bringing you to this whole new restaurant and that you two were blindfolded too. Act blind and excited." She whispered

Blind? And Excited? How would we do that? In the usual world, you're not supposed to get excited when you know you won't be seeing anything. That's preposterous. But before I could protest, Lia gave it her best act, "Oh! My eyes! My eyes! I feel so blind!"

Sam laughed. "You sound stupid, Lia. I didn't act like that when Grandma Lily blindfolded me."

Lia looked at me with wide eyes, and mouthed the words, "Oh my god! She fell for it!" I'll admit, I was stunned too. But later, I just thanked Grandma for being so witty for making up a fabulous story. Still, I felt guilty for doing this to Sam.

But whatever, this was for her own good, so I might as well go with the flow. "Grandma Lily, I'm so thrilled to see the place! Take us there now!" I said, happily. Only this was partially an act and partially true.

Isaac is going to kill us for being late, yet Sam was still in her apple green sweats. So, we let Sam's outfit suffer instead of us being late. We grabbed one another's arm and let Sam think that Grandma Lily's holding my arm to lead the way.

"Keep your blindfolds on girls; we're getting a move on." Grandma Lily said, to prolong the act, when she was already behind the wheels. She winked at Lia and I through the rearview mirror.

"Yes, Grandma." We all answered. Then the engine started and we're off.

"I'm so excited. I wonder what the place looks like." Sam whispered to me.

I smiled and replied, "Me too, Sam. Me too."

It was almost sunset when we heard Grandma say that we reached the place. And we saw them. The kids were running around, some with wings, others with capes, the rest have swords or crowns. We got out of the car and thanked Grandma Lily in a whisper for driving us. "Grandma, please call Seth and tell him to meet us here. So Sam would think that we have an escort." We whispered further.

"Oh, sure dear, I'll call him now." She said. After calling him, she said her goodbyes, wished us luck and went back home.

"Can we take our blindfolds off now? I wanna see it." Sam pleaded.

"No. We can't. Grandma Lily told us not to." Lia said, when she noticed that Sam was already trying to remove hers.

"Then can someone tell me how we can walk without seeing anything?" Sam asked.

"Don't worry, it's just a few feet away. And we won't be climbing a stair." Lia answered her straightforwardly. I gave her a you're-not-supposed-to-say-that-because-you're-supposed-to-be-blind look.

But it was too late because Sam already went, "How did you know? Are you peeking? You're peeking! Oh come on Lia, that's so unfair."

"Uhh…Grandma told me that earlier. I'm not peeking, I swear, I don't even have a clue on what the place looks like," Lia quickly reasoned out. Which made Sam go, "Oh." Lia sighed in relief. We can't go anywhere! Or else Sam would know.

"Where is Grandma anyway?" Sam asked.

"She's umm… umm… in the car! Umm… she forgot something. Don't worry; she'll be here any minute." Lia replied anxiously.

"So remind me again, how we can go to the exact place?" Sam asked.

"Grandma Lily asked for an escort to bring us there."

I saw Seth coming over and gestured him to hurry up. He strode faster, and when he got to us, he grinned. I saw Lia roll her eyes.

Eventually, Seth welcomed us, "Greetings ladies, I am sent to be your escort for this afternoon. Are we ready to go then?" Seth said, in a very polite manner.

"Yes, we're so much ready." I answered him. He offered me his hand which made Lia's eyes roll again, but I accepted it still.

While we're walking Sam suddenly whispered something to me, "Is it just me, or does our escort sound like Seth Serrano?"

A big lump grew on my throat. But I recovered from it and said, "It's just you."

_SAMANTHA PARKER_

I don't know why, but my friends are acting really weird. I haven't even heard Grandma Lily's voice since we got out of the car! And every time I take a step, I hear twigs snap. It's like I'm in a forest or something. What's going on? Where were we?

I tell you, it's hard to be blind. It feels like you're the only person in the world. But there's an advantage though, your other organs double their jobs. Like my ears, I swear I heard some other people here besides us: kids, to be specific. Then I thought, 'Of course there are other people here, it's a restaurant, for Pete's sake.' So I just ignored it.

Then out of nowhere, I heard Ysabel say, "Okay, Sam. You can remove your blindfold now."

At the moment there, I was hesitant. You? Me? Why am I the only one to remove my blindfold? What about them? Don't they have blindfolds on?

When I opened my eyes, everything looked so bright. And it was like everything was moving. But finally my normal vision came back and I was stunned by what I saw. They were all there. _Except one, of course._

"Seth? Nate? Carter? What are these guys doing here?" I asked, trying to process the things I'm seeing. "And where's the restaurant Grandma Lily's talking about? And Grandma Lily, where is she? And you two, why aren't you wearing any blindfolds? Can someone please explain this to me?" I asked in a sharp tone.

"Sam, Sam, Sam. Relax. Before you get mad at us for I don't know how long, we just want to tell you that we're all doing this for you. Just treasure the moment. Don't let your temper spoil it all." Ysabel explained.

But I was a bit furious, "What? What is all this?"

"You'll see." Lia said. "For the mean time, sit here." She led me to a stool under this huge apple tree. Then they all walked away.

"Where are you guys going? Don't leave me here!" I begged.

Then just like that, they were all gone. There was silence, only me under this big old shady tree.

**CHAPTER 45**

Heaving a sigh is the best way to start a morning. It feels like you're letting out the entire bad atmosphere within you.

_Although, this time? I was not in the mood for sighs. _

Everyone seemed to notice this because during breakfast, Grandma Lily asked me, "Samantha, you look thriving. Why so?"

I heard Lia and Ysabel snicker but I just rolled my eyes at them and smiled. When nobody answered Grandma Lily, she asked, "Which reminds me, what happened last night? Did it end well?"

I couldn't answer. I mean, I just couldn't. All I could do was to think about it and avoid the smile that's been creeping on my face for a while now.

_Last night… _

Those two girls are dead when we get home. I mean, seriously. How could they do this to me?

I'm still alone under this big old shady tree, it's been a minute but I feel like it's been an hour. Jeez, where's everybody?

"Alright. I give up." I sighed, and was about to stand up.

But then I heard something. A strum on a guitar. I still stood there, thinking it's just my imagination. Only, that's when I saw a shadow come out from behind a tree. It was Nate, holding a black acoustic guitar! Then I saw another shadow—Carter. He was carrying a…what's that? A beat box? What are these guys up to? They settled on a nearby Palm Tree.

Then, after a few moments, I heard some twigs snap a few feet away from me. When I looked at that direction, I saw Lia and Ysabel standing very close to each other, with huge smiles on their faces. It's like they were trying to hide someone behind them. I gave them a my-head-will-explode-soon-if-you-don't-tell-me-what-the-hell-is-going-on-here look. But they insisted on giving me those sweet smiles!

Although, many thoughts are grinding my mind right now, I still haven't missed how both of them looked like. They looked beautiful—Lia, wearing a white sleeveless top with a checkered blue polo rolled up to her elbows, and a faded jade shorts. And Ysabel wearing a grey dress that didn't extend below her knees and her hair was worn in a ponytail with her bangs out.—Then I thought, they always looked beautiful, so why would I bother with that?

I was trying to solve things out, when Seth suddenly showed up with hands in his pockets. And like the others, he was also smiling. Jeez, do I look like a freaking clown or something? What's up with all the teeth showing? This is not even a toothpaste commercial! And why won't anybody talk?

"Sam," Seth said. Finally! Thank God. I thought.

"Yes?" I tried to answer without sounding like a pissed off baffled girl.

"Carter has something to say." He blurted out and snapped a look at Carter. I looked at him too. And he looked surprised.

"What? Me?" Carter said innocently. "Oh come on man. I told you, I'm not saying anything."

"Carter." Seth's tone was serious which made Nate snicker. "You should be happy we didn't make you wear that big old Hotdog suit and you're sitting on that beat box with your shirt and jeans on. Now, say what you need to say to Sam."

"Traitor." I heard Carter mutter, fixing his dreadlocked hair. "Well, since I'm the root of all this; Sam, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about everything. I'm such the worst dude ever for convincing _him_ to make that bet with me. And for that, we decided to do this for you."

"Do what for me?" I asked, clueless.

Then the most unexpected thing happened—well not exactly unexpected because it's obvious that they brought those instruments for playing. They wouldn't bring a guitar to be a substitute for a baseball bat and hit a poor, innocent, little squirrel, would they? So to play the instruments was obviously likely to happen but was not was how they played it. Well, they didn't do it in an extraordinary way. Nate didn't use his toes to for the guitar. That isn't what I meant. What I meant was that they played really well! Like absolute professionals.—Nate started to pluck a very familiar melody on his guitar and Carter started to hit his beat box in a rhythm that was familiar too. And that's when it hit me. They were playing a song by Stephen Speaks! And you know Stephen Speaks; he's a very exceptional singer and songwriter. All his songs are very close to my heart because they convey a lot of meaning—especially this one.

While I was listening intently to the music, I felt someone pull my pants softly. I looked down and was stunned to see Cleo wearing a yellow coat with a yellow hat and being a redhead, Cleo actually looked like Madeline! She smiled at me. But I was too stunned to smile back.

"Cleo! What are you doing here? " I asked, stunned. And I noticed something, "And where are your glasses?"

She was still smiling when she answered me, "I no longer have my glasses," She explained. "My eye doctor said that my eyes were getting better so I no longer need them. I think I've told you that but you seem to be thinking of something else, that morning."

Eye doctor; how adorable. I remember using that term for the ophthalmologist when I was still 6. "Oh, Cleo. I'm so so sorry." I said to her. "But you look better without your glasses. You actually look like Madeline."

"I am Madeline," she shrugged. Then she looked me intently in the eyes and smiled. "I've missed my old Miss Sam. I wish you would smile again." she placed her hand on mine.

"Here." She said, handing me a beautiful yellow rose.

"What? What's this for?"

She didn't answer, instead she just hopped to the side next to where Seth, Nate and Carter were at. She hid between Seth's legs. I looked at the rose, still fresh. It's wonderful. Then I tried to look at them. Nate and Cleo were grinning. And that's when Seth sang the words to the song. He had me there too, because his voice was so damn good. _"It's her hair and her eyes today…That just simply take me away."_

Then suddenly, I felt someone poke me. I looked down and saw Talisha. She looked like a mini version of Tiana from the movie Princess and the Frog! She looked adorable.

"You too, Talisha?" I asked, smiling and putting my hands firmly in my lap with the yellow rose.

"I'm supposed to be Princess Tiana." She said, with her little voice.

"I know. You look just like her, beautiful." I said to her.

She smiled, but it quickly faded when she said, "But I don't have my prince with me."

I chuckled, "Don't worry; he'll come to you soon." I said, touching her cheek.

She smiled again, and then from behind her, came a white colored rose.

She handed it over to me and gestured me to come closer. I did so, "You're the best storyteller ever." She whispered, "Better than my mom."

I chuckled, the same time she ran towards Cleo and the others.

I looked at them, all smiling at me. _"And the feeling that I'm falling further in love makes me shiver, but in a good way…"_ Seth sang.

Then I saw Ryan come out from behind Lia and Ysabel. _Aha! So that's where they're all coming from! I knew they were hiding someone behind their backs._ I thought. But my train of thought was altered when I saw Ryan stride toward me with both hands behind him.

I smiled, "And who are you supposed to be, Ryan?" I said, patting his well-combed hair.

"Mr. Bean." He said, grinning. Oh, now I see. That's what the brownish coat, red tie and tucked white shirt were all about.

"Oh, you're much handsome than he is." I said, fixing his tie. "Only where's your—"

"Teddy?" He cut me off. "He's behind me, preparing something for you." Then when, he was ready, out came the teddy bear. It sure looked like Mr. Bean's Teddy. But there was only one thing that made this Teddy special, he has a peach rose. And that rose was for me.

"Oh, thank you Ryan." I said, and then kissed him on the cheek.

He grew surprised, and he touched the cheek I just pecked on. I saw him blush as he walked away which made me chuckle. "_All the times I have sat and stared…as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair."_

Lila was next to come out from behind Lia and Ysabel's backs. She was wearing a Chinese Robe, I've noticed. And as she went closer, I've also noticed that an eyeliner was put on the ends of her eyes to make it look like they were chinky. Her hair was worn in a tight bun.

"Hi there, Lila." I greeted her when she was already beside me. "Mulan, eh?" I asked.

"Good guess!" she said happily. She did look like a mini Lia. "Do I look like her? Do I? Do I?" she asked repeatedly.

I didn't get the chance to answer her because she just continued talking. Very fast. "I'm supposed to be Jasmine. But then she has a browner skin than mine. So the next choice was Melody, you know? Ariel's daughter? But then we didn't know what costume I will wear to be her. Then we thought of Mulan. But then she has the Chinese eyes. And I don't have that because I have the American ones. So Lia put this black thingy on my eyes to make it look like the Chinese eyes. It was really cool! She used a tiny pencil! I didn't know pencils could be used for make-ups. And—"

"Alright, Lila. Give your rose to Sam now." Lia interrupted her. I chuckled because of the innocence found in Lila's words.

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot." She said. Then she got her rose behind her back and she handed it over. "It's purple," she said. "My favorite color. Take care of it, okay?"

I took it carefully from her small hands and said, "I will. Thank you Lila."

And I watched her walk towards the other kids with Seth, Nate and Carter. _"And she purses her lips, bats her eyes and she plays with me sitting there slacked jaw with nothing to say…"_ Seth sang. His style was to sing when no one's talking, and I don't know how he does that but it sure sounded outstanding.

I wonder who's next. How many kids have these guys even got? And then I saw Ysabel bending down to talk with this youngster, which I saw was the last one. Since there were no more kids behind them. She was wearing a red hood and was holding a basket. But it was covering her face so I can't see it from where I was sitting.

"But Miss Sam is mad at my brother. If she's mad at him, then she's mad at me too. I'm scared. I don't want to go." The little girl said. _Miss Sam._ There's only one girl who calls me that. And when I heard her words, I almost sobbed. Gail was scared of me. So what I did next was to stand up and go to where Lia, Ysabel and Gail were at. Lia saw me and I saw her poke Ysabel to let her know that I was near.

"Sam." Lia said.

"Don't worry, I can handle this." I assured her. Then bent down so I could be of the same height with Gail. "Hi Gail." I said to her.

Her face was filled with uneasiness. "Mi…miss Sam?" she looked up at me. "Why… why are you talking to me? Aren't you mad?"

"Why would I be mad at you, Gail?" I asked her, while stroking her cheek. "I would never be mad at you."

"Really?" She said with a gleam on her eyes.

"Really, really." I assured her. Then I remembered her costume. "So you're Little Red Riding Hood, eh?"

"Yes. And Little Red Riding Hood has something for you." she said, opening her basket, searching for something inside with her little hand.

"Found it!" She exclaimed. Then out came a pink flower. But unlike the others, it has a note attached to it.

"What's this, Gail?" I asked.

"Read it. It's a universal fact." she chuckled. Then she ran towards the others. I opened the small card and laughed at what it said.

This was surely Gail. Calling her brother stupid with a corresponding illustration of it, yeah, this was surely her. But, I don't know if I'm ready to agree with what she wanted…

I was holding all the roses; yellow, white, peach, purple and pink—wonderful, especially hearing Seth's melodic voice. _"Cause I love her with all that I am…And my voice shakes along with my hands…"_

"Alright, Samantha. Go back to your spot. And this time without the chair. And with the blind fold on." Lia said, holding my shoulders and pushing me gently back to where I was before.

"Oh come on. Again?" I whined.

"Again," Ysabel answered this time, putting a blindfold on me. Jeez, I'll never learn to like this stuff. "And besides, we're getting to the fun part."

"Fun part? What fun part?" I was panicking.

"Just go with the flow, Sam." Both of them said in unison…which made me even more nervous.

"Guys, I wanna pee." I confessed. Really, my gall bladder is killing me. It will go pop-goes-the-weasel anytime soon.

"Sam, not now. Handle it."

"Oh, fine. If I get kidney cancer, trust me, you'll be the first ones to know." I snapped at them, while they led me back to where I sat earlier. Although now… I have to stand. Dang it.

I was there, blind, but clearly hearing the plucking of Nate's guitar with Carter's hitting of the beat box. It was the most pleasant thing. Then Seth sang the last part of the chorus. _"'Cause she's all that I see and she's all that I need and I'm out of my league once again…" _I sighed of its beauty.

Then I thought about Gail's letter. It did use cute, innocent words but then… well you can see what it really meant. And I'm sure _he _will show up soon. Wouldn't he? But am I ready to…see him? Jeez, it's only been two days. Am I? I'm not! I don't need to be like those girls in the movies, destroying one of these flowers, plucking its petals one by one just so I could know if _he_ loves me or not. I should be tougher than them. It's just _him,_ anyway. Of course I can deal with him. He's a guy!

But… I don't know…

ISAAC SERRANO

Alright. I look extremely STUPID. I hate wearing this. Really, I never learned to like this, my whole life. But whatever; I'm here. And she's here. In front of me. And I was tongue-tied to even speak! She's so beautiful. I wish I could just pull her and hug her as tight as I could. And that hug would say it all. But I couldn't. 'Cause I'm a hopeless freaking coward.

Nate and Carter stopped the music which distracted Sam a little. And like what was planned, all of them left me alone with her.

So I decided that I should try it sooner or later. I spoke, "Umm…your blindfold. You…you can remove it now."

I saw her stumble. Did I scare her? Jeez, bad move Isaac. Bad move! "You okay?" I asked.

"I…I'm okay." she stuttered. "Just surprised, but I'm okay." she said, already removing the blindfold.

She was looking down when it was removed. She pinched the top of her nose bridge lightly. Then carefully, she looked up at me from my shiny, black shoes, up to my face.

"It's you," she said. Her words cringed to me. God, she's the most beautiful thing.

Yet I, being well an Isaac, answered her with a shrug and a dumb grin…"It's me."

"Hi." she said. Why does she do that? Why? She's torturing me! Giving me those crucial single words that…ugh.

"Sam, can you please say something that involves more than a word or two?" I asked her.

She smiled.

"You look good in your tux." she finally said. "That's six, happy?"

She got me there, but after awhile, I snapped out it. "Come on, Samantha. You're supposed to be shouting at me. You're supposed to be mad." I said to her. This is not easy.

But putting my thoughts in to words didn't seem that enough for her, because she just continued staring at me. "Why are you in your tux?" she asked, acting innocently. _As if she doesn't know anything. _

Because I love you! I wanted to tell her. Badly. But I can't. She does something to me that makes me…anxious.

I didn't answer; and seeing that I was waiting for her to ask, she finally did. "Tell me the whole story, Isaac."

I looked at her for awhile. Her hair, tied back in a ponytail—the usual Samantha. I was eager to tell her everything. "The bet didn't happen." I blurted out.

Her reaction was unanticipated. She was calm and intently listening. So in the end, I told her what I told her best friends the night before—from the part where she beat me up at soccer to the part where I told Carter about cancelling the bet.

I examined her face once I finished talking. "Sam, please say something."

She hesitated for awhile then, later she shook her head. Out of the blue, she sighed and said, "That's why I hate words, even though they're not true, you intend to believe them."

She shot me a look, "Did you know that I've hated boys my whole life, Serrano?" she continued, "And then you come along and just like any other, I hated you too." She jabbed a finger to my chest, "But then you turned my whole world upside down and you made me fall in love with you. Or even though it's only a mere infatuation, I don't care. 'Cause I felt something for you, Serrano! Then just like that, you screwed it all up. Did you know how much that hurt? It felt like a thousand people hit me in the gut! And now you're telling me that all of it didn't happen? Jeez, Serrano!" she almost screamed at me. I saw her eyes almost filled with tears.

I couldn't help it. I just couldn't. It hurts me to see her like that, so the next thing I did was to pull her toward me and hug her. Very tight. I never wanted to let go. I wanted to freeze time during that moment. She was stunned to hug me back. But then, I waited for her to calm down and soon felt her head over my shoulder.

After a few moments…she pulled away. And started to fix herself. "Umm…sorry…umm 'bout that." she said, feeling embarrassed.

"We should sit." I suggested.

We sat wordlessly under this big old shady tree.

It was silent. We can only hear the whoosh of the trees, the sound of the water from the lake, the birds chirping—that was all.

"I'm mindless for doing that to you, Sam. I did not think that I might actually fall in love with the girl I'm betting on because I was plain stupid. You did not deserve any of those Sam. In fact you don't deserve me." I said to her.

She paused for a moment, then laughed. "Why suddenly so dramatic?" she asked, "That's not you. You should be you if you're saying your sorry. And for the record, it's sweet what you've done here, Serrano." she commented, changing the topic.

"You liked it?" I asked, happy to hear her opinion.

"Yes, very much." she answered me.

I looked at her, looking far away. Then she asked, "Why did you choose that song?"

"What song?"

"What Seth sang." she said plainly.

"The song hit me like hell." I answered her, "Like it was really written for me and you. And the lyrics said it all for me."

"It did, huh?"

"It did." I said with certainty, she was still looking far away. The mood changed evidently. Sam was no longer mad thanks to… my power hug. Ha-ha, just kidding. Oh come on, it's not a sin to lighten up a solemn mood. But soon enough, I snapped out from my crazy thoughts and sighed, "I am sorry, Samantha." I said.

"I know you are." She answered me, still looking far away.

"And it hurts to say this, but if it would make you feel any better, well… I tried not to fall, Sam. I tried." I said to her, looking at the other direction now. _Trying to see if she knows what I'm talking abou_t.

Soon, she answered, "I tried too. But it's hard not to fall in love with you, you know?" She did. She did know what I was talking about.

"It's even harder with you." I said in reply.

I saw the gleam of her teeth when she grinned, "So you think what you just said will grant you my sympathy, eh?"

I was stunned to hear that, "No. I was stating a simple fact." I assured her.

"So…you don't want me to forgive you, then?" she concluded. "That's fine with me." she chuckled, while standing up and I panicked.

"No, no, no!" I said, abruptly grabbing her hand. We stayed like that for a second or two. Then I let go, realizing that I almost sounded like a desperate lover boy. "I mean… it's up to you… umm… if you want to." I continued, sheepishly.

That's when she laughed her hardest, that she fell on her bottom again. It was the most satisfying sound. "Now, that's you." She said, in between those angelic laughs.

"So… does that mean you forgive me?" I grinned, looking back at her.

**SAMANTHA PARKER**

Reality Check: Forgive him—my heart says yes but my mind says no. Let him suffer first, and then you forgive—my heart says no but my mind says yes.

But then, that's why God designed us with our minds over our hearts, right?

Then there was the sound of evil laugh inside my head. _Mwahahahaha…_

"Give me 3 good reasons, why I should forgive you." I told him after a long pause.

He looked at me, skeptically. Trying to figure out what I'm up to. But then, after awhile, he looked up, "Hmmm…"

He cleared his throat first then he looked down and back at me before he answered. "If you forgive me," he said childishly, and then he held up a finger to indicate that it was his first reason. "I'll start terminating every cockroach that comes your way."

I laughed. Honestly, I thought I needed a serious answer but it turned out, all I needed was this. Then he raised another finger, to indicate his second reason, "Then I'll start practicing my soccer skills so that you will have your very own David Beckham." He answered again. I laughed really hard at that and he seemed proud that I liked his responses.

Then, suddenly he let down his hand, at the same time my laughter stopped. "What? You're all out?" I asked.

He grinned, then he shook his head. "If you forgive me," He said, and then he placed his hand over mine. Now, he looked serious. And I waited patiently for his last reason. "You'll be receiving more of this." He looked down, and I followed his gaze. There I saw, lying subtly on the ground of dried leaves and twigs, was a… black rose. I was shocked, at the same time disappointed. But I didn't let him see my reaction; I just simply smiled and nodded in reply to show my gratitude. "Where did you get this? You didn't have this awhile ago." I asked.

He grinned, "What can I say? I'm a good keeper."

He laughed softly but later sensed that I didn't feel the bliss he felt. So he asked, "You're not going to pick it up?"

So, I did. I picked it up. Only to find out, that in the end of the stem of the rose, was a thin thread tied on it, leading to somewhere. I tried to study it, and then I looked at Isaac with puzzlement. But he just shrugged as if he doesn't know anything about it. So I insisted on pulling the thread.

Soon, I found out that it led to his pinky. It was tied there, yet I continued pulling, it led to his whole hand… holding the most beautiful red rose I've ever seen.

"I promise I won't let myself nor anyone else hurt you again." he said, as my eyes gleamed in wonder.

Now that's a reason. I tried to speak, but then it seemed like he was not finished yet. He looked at me intently in the eyes, and said, "I know you find it cliché if I tell you this. 'Cause I would sound like one of those hopeless bachelors in romantic movies, but… I wouldn't name this the best summer ever if it weren't for you. I'll admit you're not my ideal girl, but you still had me wrapped around your finger, Sam. " He reached for my cheek and gave it a stroke. "What I felt with you the first time I saw you…I still feel it now, love. And I'll always will."

Never minding what words would pass on from my lips…I smiled at him and insisted in speaking, "For the record, it didn't sound cliché at all. I loved every single word you said." Our faces were inches apart as blood filled my cheeks and turned it to the slightest red, like one of the roses I'm holding right now. "And if it makes you happy knowing this—the river of love flows both ways."

He grinned as he lifted my chin so that it would be in line with his. He pulled me gently towards him as he lowered his face. I was captured by his alluring eyes, it's like I have no choice but to stare right into them. "I'm so glad you kicked my butt at soccer, that day." He whispered, still wearing his tempting grin. Feeling invincible with every word he said, he kissed me. Right then and there, yeahp, I was certainly kissed. His grip on me, made me feel like I was a fragile little doll… full of reassurance and love.

I actually didn't mind if Seth and the others are not here to continue the song. To be honest, I totally forgot all about them. 'Cause in my head, the lyrics of the song just kept on playing… over and over again. Just the way I like it. _"…'Cause she's all that I see, and she's all that I need, and I'm out of my league once again…_

**YSABEL STRYDER**

It's been days since Isaac's big confession to Sam. Honestly, it was the sweetest thing. Samantha swooned for days. Haha, kidding. Well, she was in love. It was understandable. And Lia and I were happy for her. Finally, she found her prince.

But now, we have to snap back reality. And by that I mean, being in the bookstore 24/7. Sadly, we have to get back to work. Well, technically it's not that sad. Since… well let's just say, I've got the chance to see Pierre everyday. Screw that. I SEE PIERRE EVERYDAY!

Counting every elderly that passes by. Wishing he would pass next.

"Dude, you're the reason why terrorist attacks happen."

"I think it's a beautiful thing." HAHAHA.


End file.
